■i
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
RIVERSIDE
^p^'^/u^
-jXyt H - ^^ c^^^ ■
^ROM
HAUSALAND to EGYPT,
THROUGH THE SUDAN.
BY
H: KARL W. KUMM, Ph.D.,
AUTHOR OF
" Tribes of The Nile Valley " ,• " The Political Economy of Nubia " ;
" The Sudan. '^
ILLUSTRATED.
LONDON :
CONSTABLE AND CO., LTD.
1910
7)T L*)
Inscribed
To the Memory of
THE PRINCE OF MISSIONARY EXPIORERS,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
CONTENTS.
PREFACE.
CHAPTER I.
Exordium.
PAGE
From the Heart of Europe to the Heart of Africa — Past Explorers — The Toll
of the Sudan — Earlier Journeyings ... ... ... .. ... ... i
CHAPTER H.
From the B.\y of Benin to the Bukuru Plateau.
Landing — An Unexpected " Find" — Tornado — Up the Niger — Conference with
Sir P. Girouard — At Government House — Lokoja — Lucy Memorial Home
— My Overland Trek — Obtaining Firewood — Negotiating for Supplies —
Cash disdained by the Natives — The Novelty of Fire-arms — Maltreating
the Natives — Bukuru — Patching up a Leper — Ngell ... ... ... 6
CHAPTER in.
From Bukuru to the Banks of the " Mother of Waters."
Christmas Eve Dinner — Carriers' Troubles — Glued to their Horses — Flight of
Pagans — Christmas Day — A Narrow Escape — C.M.S., Panyam — Shy
Game — Food Scarce — Difficult Travelling — Among Cannibals — The
Yergum Tribe — Wase Rock ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24
CHAPTER IV.
On the Kamerun Border.
Wukari — S.U.M. — Game — The Munchis and their Country — Takum — Result
of a Practical Joke — Donga — Farmers and Buffaloes — Buffalo Hunting —
A Race for the Bush — Leopard and Water-buck — Lion-land 39
CHAPTER V.
On the Bosom of the Benue. page
Farewell — Dangana, the Factotum — Peter — Carriers — Dr. Barth — Garua —
Imperial German Government Methods ... ... ... ... ... 53
CHAPTER VI.
March through the Mountains of Adamawa.
The Caravan — Malam Gidar — Lombel — Tribes — Lam Pagans — The Chief
City in the Chad Region — Welcome — The Chief of Marua — Diminutive
Mutiny — Presents from Chiefs — Musgun pagans — Musgun — Disfigured
Women — Morno — Last German Outpost — The White Man's Rule — Coins 66
CHAPTER VII.
On the Shari.
Half-Castes — Crossing the Shari — The Bagirmi Country — My Interpreter a
Failure — Canoeing— Even the Women Pray ! — Hippos — Busso — A French
Native Official — Chad--The Borderland — Modern Vandalism — Dumraou
— Mouth of Bahr-es-Salamat ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 87
CHAPTER VIII.
The Ultima Thule of European Civilisation in Africa.
Fort Archambault — The Heart of the Continent- — Agricultural Implements — •
Naked Pagans — Burial — Two Months at a French Fort — Problems Ahead ! loi
CHAPTER IX.
The Birth of a New Protectorate.
The French Conquest — Rabba, the Napoleon of the Sudan — Fight with Slave
Raiders — Smuggled Arms — La Bataille — Third Engagement — The Great
Fight — -A Decisive Victory ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1C9
CHAPTER X.
Big Game of the Shari \\\lley.
An Elephant Hunt — Music Indescribable ! — Forty Elephants^The Charge :
and After ! — My First Elephant — Native Hunting Methods — -Rogues —
Hippo Hunting — The Father of the Herd ... ... ... ... ... 120
CHAPTER XI.
Two Days' Hunting.
A Curious Giraffe — Buffaloes — A Black Demon — Promenading Rhinos— Lion
Calling — Giraffes — Buck — Stalking Water-buck — Wart Hog .. ... 133
CHAPTER XII.
Into the Unknown. page
Losses — Pack-Oxen a Trial to the Flesh — Pilgrims on Trek — Hausa Pilgrims
and Cannibal Chief: A Contrast — Pack-Oxen — My War-boys — Wet —
Lions — -More Trouble with My Guard of Honour — Game — Bush Camp —
Ox Shams Dying — Lip Discs — A Hunted People — Disfigured Women
— An Empty Village — The Golden Rule — -Oxen Begin to Die — Gluttons —
Sons of Anak — Tornado — Hungry Pilgrims — Taxing Pilgrims — One More
Little Shower — Exciting Chase — Wet, Wetter, Wettest ! — A Lazy Pilgrim
— Game — The Ba River — Elephant Country — A Land of Contrasts —
Moths and Butterflies— First Fever — Walking Off Fever — Game Preserves ■
of the Slave-Raiders — Rain — ^Our Column ... ... ... ... ... 144
CHAPTER XIII.
In Terra Incognita.
Sinussi — Music has Charms — Calling on Sinussi — The Sinussi Movement —
Farewell — Lost on the Road to the Congo — Slave Villages — A Wet Camp
— Lazy Hausas — Bush Camp — Elephants — Bad Luck — Mid-day Lightning
— An Improvised Ferry — Tsetse-^Donkey Submarines — Driver Ants at
Play — The Wealth of Wadda — Wading through Swamps — Raymond
Rock — Alfred Rocks 170
CHAPTER XIV.
The Bridging of the Kotto.
Bagirmi Raft — Patience Island — Tornado — Imprisoned on the Island — Second
Bridge — A Creeper Bridge — Across — Meat — Still Eastward through the
Rain — Soaked — Watershed between Nile and Congo — Lion Spoor — Rain,
but no Food — First Footprint of Man — Chary Hunters — Almost a Fight 191
CHAPTER XV.
Into the Nile Region.
At Keffi Genji— The Mahmur's Prayer — The Caravan diminished in Number
— Isa's Breakdown — ^Honey-Hunting— A Bad Ford — A Deserted Town
— The Arab River — The Kreish Pagans converted to Islam — Tsetse —
Rain— Road Making — Crossing the Raja River — The First White Man —
Aulad Sheitan— Osman and the Mule— Dan and the Mule — Crossing
Rivers — An African Night Scene — Dem Ziber— Rest Houses — Nyam-
Nyam Cannibals... ... ... ... ... .•• ... ..• ••■ 203
CHAPTER XVI.
From Wau to Khartum.
The Sudd— Enemy to Development— God-Help-Us Island— Mule's shabby
Trick — "Ordeal" — Problems for the Administrator — Mosquitoes — Dis-
appointments— Khartum at Last ! ... ... ... ... ... ■•• -221
CHAPTER XVII.
Short History of the Land of Cush.
PAGE
Cush = Sudan— Nubian Temples— In the Time of the Romans— The Egyptian
Sudan in the Middle Ages 235
CHAPTER XVIII.
On the Anthropology of the Sudan Tribes.
Coiffures — Language— Arms — Cattle— Coins 244
CHAPTER XIX.
On the Mineral and Botanical Wealth of the Central
Sudan.
Iron, Lime, Granite — Sandstone — Woolsacks — Cold — Tin — Silver — Rubber—
Cum Arabic— Shea-Butter— Cotton— Future Exports 258
CHAPTER XX.
The Mecca Pilgriiniage.
Route — My Caravan — Timbuctu Caravan ... ... ... ... ... 262
CHAPTER XXI.
The Moslem Political Danger.
Pioneers of Civilisation — Deserts and Religion — Spread of Islam — Slavery
Dying ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 266
APPENDICES.
(a) Beri-Beri Proverbs and Sayings 272
About the Name of a Tribe and Linguistic Inexacti-
tudes 272
Vocabularies 282
(b) Meteorological Observations 292
(c) Zoological Specimens and Collections 305
(d) Trans-African Outfit 308
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Dr. Karl Kumm {Frontispiece)
Map of Africa xv
View of Lokoja 8
The Lucy Memorial Freed Slaves' Home at Rumasha, Northern
Nigeria n
A Woman Grinding Guinea-corn ... ... ... ... ... ... 13
Hausa Women with Water-pots ... ... ... ... ... ... 13
A Chief s Horse ... ... ... ... 14
Chart of Bukuru ... ... ... ... 19
Ngell Station — Tin Holes ... ... ... 21
The Bukuru Plateau — The Land of the Tin Mines ... ... ... 26
Angass Huts Among the Rocks ... ... ... ... ... ... 27
In the Angass Country — Dr. Emlyn's Lodgings. Tatto's House ... 30
Children Playing ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 32
Chief of the Yergum... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 33
Vergum Hunters — Watching Brickmaking at Langtang ... ... 34
Hut Building ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 35
The Wase Rock ... 36
" Dogeri." Dr. Kumm's Hunter from Wase ... ... ... ... yj
Missionary Conference at Ibi ... ... ... ... ... ... 39
Plate I ; Butterflies ... facing 39
Rev. C. W. Guinter, Missionary at Wukari ... ... ... ... 40
Roof Thatching ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 43
Village Street, with Shops ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 44
Government Post at Ibi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 46
The Chief of Dempar ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 49
Youthful Cavaliers ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 50
Children at Play in Dempar ... ... ... ... ... ... 51
" Then he yelled for dear life 1 " ... ... ... ... ... ... 52
Chief and Elders at Dempar ... ... ... ... ... ... 53
PAGE
Barge on the Benue ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 54
Peter and Dangana ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 55
M'bula District 58
Cooking Luncheon ... ... ... ... ... ... 59
Hausa Beauties ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 60
Labourers at Garua ... ... ... ... 61
Gathering of Men at Garua... ... ... ... ... ... ... 64
Plate II : Butterflies facing 66
.Mustering of Carriers ... ... ... ... ... 67
Camp at Marua ... ... ... ... ... ... 75
Musgun Village ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 81
Iron Boomerang of Musgun ... ... ... ... ... ... 84
Fisher Boats on the Shari ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 88
Sultan Gaurang of Bagirmi... ... ... ... ... ... ... 89
Sultan Gaurang Calling on French Governor ... ... ... ... 90
Officer Commanding Bagirmi Troops ... ... ... ... ... 91
A Powow on the Shari ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 92
A Dug-out Canoe on the Shari ... ... ... ... ... ... 95
Fulani Village on the Shari... ... ... ... ... ... ... 98
Plate III : Butterflies facing loi
Fort Archambault ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... loi
A Curious Agricultural Implement... ... ... ... ... ... 103
Seed Sowing among the Sara ... ... ... ... ... ... 104
A Hand Plough ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 105
Pagans of the Shari-Chad Protectorate ... ... ... ... ... io6
Liberated Slaves ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 113
A Mighty Hunter, Lieutenant Tourencq ... . ... 116
Headmen of Dr. Kumm at Fort Archambault ... ... ... ... 121
Elephant and Elephant Trap ... ... ... ... ... ... 127
A Father with his Family ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 132
Horns of Shari-Chad Giraffe ... ... ... ... ... ... 133
Curious Flat Horns of Buffalo ... ... ... ... ... ... 136
By-Products of Meat Supply ... ... ... ... 139
Plate IV : Butterflies ... ... ... ... ... ...facing 144
Crossing the Shari at Fort Archambault ... ... ... ... ... 145
A Sara-Kabba Woman (with the Beak-Face) ... ... ... ... 153
Carrying a Plate in her Lips ... ... ... ... ... ... 155
Villagers of the Sara-Kabba ... ... ... ... ... ... 157
Ndele, the Capital of Sinussi ... ... ... ... ... ... 171
Sultan Sinussi of Ndele ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 172
French Post at Ndele 177
Pagan Women showing Cicatrices of the Body...
Through Swamps and Brooks and Swollen Rivers
Bridging the Kotto ...
Plate V : Moths
Egyptian Officer
Government House at Wau
Review at Wau
Musical Programme and Signatures of White Officials at W
Officer Commanding nth Sudanese, and Doctor at Wau
" English as she is Writ," by an Egyptian Official
Plate VI : Moths
Anthropological Face Types
Court Musician
The Chiefs Band
Meteorological Tables : Mean Monthly Rainfall
„ „ Mean Monthly Atmospheric Pressur
,, „ Mean Monthly Temperature
A Zebra Crocodile ...
Map of Dr. Kumm's Journey
facint^
faci)
PAGE
179
189
203
206
219
22 I
223
226
-35
245
246
247
248
249
250
2 ^2
253
295
296
297
307
End of Book
PREFACE.
The information and observations contained in this book have
been most carefully gathered, and if in any point I should have
failed to secure perfect accuracy, I venture to ask the reader
to assist me in the necessary correction. It is not my desire to
promulgate inexactitudes, and for any assistance I may receive
to prevent this, I would tender my sincere thanks.
I desire to record my gratitude,
to the Government Officials of Northern Nigeria, German
Adamawa, the French Shari-Chad Protectorate, and the Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan, who did all they could to help, and who
without exception, showed their practical sympathy with my
undertaking,
to the Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, both
in Northern Nigeria and on the Upper Nile, for their help,
to the Royal Geographical Society for having supplied the
maps and charts for this book, and to Captain Lyons, who
has kindly assisted with meteorological tables,
to Sir G. Hampson and Mr. Heron, of the British Museum,
for having classified the lepidoptera brought home,
to Mrs. Craven, for her assistance to the expedition,
to Lieutenant Raymond and Captain Cornet for illustrations
from the Shari Valley,
and to my friends of the Sudan United Mission for their co-
operation.
H. K. W. K.
London, 19 lo.
TERMS USED IN THIS BOOK TO EXPRESS THE VARIOUS
FORMS OF BUSH AND OPEN COUNTRY.
1. Forest. — Thick bush, with large trees interlaced with creepers that
present considerable difificulties to penetration.
2. Open Bush. — Bush, with trees on an average lo or 12 ft. apart. Trees
not more than 6 inches in diameter.
3. Gallery Forest. — Virgin forest on the banks of the rivers, the largest
trees close to the edge, and diminishing in size with the increased
distance from the water.
4. Kiirini (Hausa word). — A dense forest similar to the preceding growing
on swampy ground in and around pools of water and on the
brooks.
5. Fadavia (Hausa word). — A meadow, usually situated between the
gallery forest and the bush, varying in width from a few hundred
yards to a mile or two.
6. Chaur (Arabic word). — A gorge or ravine in the open bush, or the
fadama caused by the washing away of the soil through heavy
rains. These chaurs are usually dry, with very steep banks, from
10 to 50 yards in depth. They become frequent as one approaches
the Nile.
NORTH ATLANTIC
OMDURMAN ,
maruaJL-bussu o'^*'
CARUA ^sA
**^".
SOUTH ATLANTIC
OCEAN
AFRICA
SCALF Of M'/l ES
CHAPTER I.
Exordium.
From the Heart of Europe to the Heart ot Africa — Past Explorers —
The Toll of the Sudan — Earlier Journeyings.
White gleams the snow in the valley. Great giants of the
Alps rear their hoary heads to heaven around us. Dark pine
woods creep through "aim" and crag and cliff up to their
shoulders, while humble herdsmen's huts lie sheltering in their
shadows.
Pale dawns the day over the Bernese Oberland, when from a
chalet here in Adelboden my thoughts turn from this heart of
Europe to the heart of the Dark Continent, the Sudan ; the
land of the mysterious Mountains of the Moon : the land
beyond which the sources of the Nile were hidden for ages
in darkness, the unsolved mysteries of Lake Chad and the
famous City of the Middle Ages, Timbuctu — the throbbing
heart of Africa.
In 1885, when Chinese Gordon was killed at Khartum, the
whole of the civilised world sorrowed for a great, good man,
who had given his life for the sons of slaves, for the men of
the midnight and the daughters of darkness ; and when^
13 years later, Kitchener fought in a mighty slaughter the
Dervishes of Omdurman, the eyes of Europe and America
were again fixed on those regions.
Men of similar will-power to that of Livingstone and Stanley
had acted as path-finders through the wide bush land,
mountain and morass of the Sudan.
Men like Mungo Park, Denham, Clapperton, Barth, Rholfs
Vogel, Beurman, Loefler, Gentil and Maistre, had, through
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
untiring devotion to the fascinations of exploration, through
self-sacrifice and indomitable energy, though most of them
died in the attempt, brought light into the geographical
darkness of the Sudan. Explorers, soldiers, Government
officials, traders and missionaries, form the vanguard of the
white man in the Sudan States. Man after man has fallen
in carrying forward the flag of European civilisation. As
they fall new recruits press to the front, undaunted by the
fate of their predecessors.
The Western Sudan and Timbuctu were known lOO years
ago. The Niger territories, with Hausaland, were penetrated
in the third and fifth decade of the last century. Sir Samuel
Baker and Dr. Schweinfurth laid bare the unknown reaches
of the Upper Nile ; but between the Central Sudan, the Lake
Chad region, and the Nile Valley between the Shari and the
Bahr-el-Ghazal, some 50,000 square miles had, up to 1870,
remained untouched — a happy hunting ground for slave
raiders, a somewhat inaccessible plateau region situated in
the very centre of Africa.
In 1869 Dr. Nachtigal — who is without doubt one of, if not
the most fruitful African explorer, whose documents form
to-day the basis of any botanical, zoological, geological or
physiological publications on the provinces of the Central
Sudan — had crossed the Sahara, had visited Borku, had
wandered round Lake Chad, had seen the lands of the middle
Shari, and from Kuka (the capital of Bornu) had essayed to
penetrate Bagirmi and Wadai, where both Vogel and Beurman
had been killed some years before, and go through Darfur
and Kordofan to Khartum. In this he succeeded. With a
wonderful amount of tenacity he advanced in his careful
and cautious way, made friends as he went, left no enemies
behind, and thus slowly passed from land to land until he
reached the Nile Valley.
Nachtigal has left for ever his footprints on Africa, not only
Exordium.
in crossing the Sahara, exploring Borku, and traversing the
Sudan, but in giving to Germany her African colonies. He
it was who hoisted the German flag in the Kameruns and
German South- West Africa.
As one follows Nachtigal's route from the Central Sudan
to the east, one notices that he aimed at the great Moslem
towns of the north, being handed from Moslem Chief to Moslem
Chief as a Christian traveller. He never disguised himself
as a Moslem, and his straightforwardness and fearlessness gave
him considerable prestige with the Moslem Chiefs.
Thirty-five years later — in 1904 — Captain Boyd Alexander,
accompanied by his brother, Captain Gosling and Mr. Talbot,
besides a Portuguese taxidermist, added largely to our
knowledge of the Central Sudan, surveyed Lake Chad, and
following the Shari to its headwaters, crossed by way of the
Welle to the Nile. This journey skirted more or less the
southern border of the Sudan, through savage, cannibal,
pagan tribes.
The sufferings to \\hich the Expedition was exposed were
exceptionally trying. Captain Claud Alexander (Boyd
Alexander's brother) was buried at Maifoni, in Northern
Nigeria, and Captain Gosling died at Niangara on the Welle.
Mr. Talbot had returned from Lake Chad by way of the Niger,
and only Captain Boyd Alexander, accompanied by his Portu-
guese collector, succeeded in reaching the Nile. The work done
by them, especially in Northern Nigeria and round Lake Chad,
was of the greatest importance. Later on, the climatic and health
conditions were such as only strong wdll-power, backed by
an exceptionally wiry constitution, managed to overcome.
At the moment of my writing Captain Boyd Alexander
is again in the Sudan, and the last news from him came from
the Lake Chad region, which he had reached after travelling
through the German Kameruns and Adamawa. When some
time ago I met the brother of Captain Boyd Alexander in
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan,
London he told me that the last news he had received was
from Maifoni in Bornu. His brother intended to follow
Dr. Nachtigal's route through the Mohammedan states of the
North Central Sudan, and attempt to make his way through
Borku, Tibesti and Kufra to Bengazi on the Mediterranean.
Thus I wrote some weeks ago. Since then the hungry Sudan
has taken the bold Captain's life. He was killed at Nyeri,
north-east of Abesher, the capital of Wadai. And now he
lies buried with his brother at Maifoni, as Captain Gosling
lies at Niangara.
"The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo ;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave but fallen few ;
On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn sound
The bivouac of the dead."
The two routes through the north and the south of the Central
Sudan opened by Nachtigal and Boyd Alexander have since
been covered, the former in 1881 by two Italians — Dr.
Pelegrino Matteucci and Lieut. A. Maosari — and the latter by
Mr. Savage Landor in 1906. Between the two routes, which
are some 600 miles apart, there lay a considerable stretch
of unexplored territory, and it was this region which it has
been my privilege to traverse.
I have been interested in the Sudan since 1898. In 1899
I visited the southern oases of the Lybian desert, and thought
then of following the Darb-el-Arbain towards Darfur, but
nothing came of this.
In 1901 I visited Nubia on the Middle Nile, and wrote a
dissertation on the political economy of that part of the Nile
Valley.
In 1904 I went from Tripoli southwards into the mountains
of the desert, studying the Hausa language, and also gathering
Exordium.
information as to the trans-Sahara trade from the Sudan to
the Mediterranean.
Later on in 190^, and the beginning of 1905, I led an ex-
pedition of investigation into Northern Nigeria to secure
more definite information as to the advance of Moham-
medanism amongst the pagan tribes of Nigeria. This expe-
dition resulted in the formation of the Sudan United Mission,
the aim of which is to counteract the Moslem advance by
Christianising the pagan tribes of the Sudan.
In the interests of this Mission I visited America and South
Africa in 1906 and 1907, endeavouring to secure in the latter
place some rehable data as to the Moslem propaganda. I
returned from South Africa by way of the East Coast, the
Red Sea and the Mediterranean, called at Natal, Portuguese
East Africa, British East Africa, and went up by rail to Uganda
On October loth, 1908, I left Liverpool with seven mis-
sionaries of the Sudan United Mission, including a medical
man and an engineer, to visit the Mission stations in Northern
Nigeria, estabhsh the Lucy Memorial Freed Slaves' Home
at Rumasha, and then, if I found it practicable, to go further
inland and, perhaps, to cross the Continent, following the
border line between Islam and Paganism.
I was most fortunate in being able to work out these plans
— i.e., to visit all the Mission stations, arrange with His
Excellency the Governor of Northern Nigeria about the taking
over of the Government slave children, to lay out the build-
ing site for the Freed Slaves' Home, to plan the occupation
of two or three new tribes by the missionaries of the Sudan
United Mission, and then to penetrate in a long march during
the rainy season the border regions of the Crescent faith in
the Central Sudan, and, without any serious illness, to arrive
at Khartum on December 3rd, 1909.
I will endeavour in the followdng chapters to lay before
the reader the results of this tour.
5
CHAPTER II.
From the Bay of Benin to the Bukuru Plateau.
Landing — An Unexpected " Find " — Tornado — Up the Niger — Conference
with Sir P. Girouard — At Government House— Lokoja— Lucy Memorial
Home — My Overland Trek — Obtaining Firewood — Negotiating for
Supplies — Cash disdained by the Natives — The Novelty of Fire-arms —
Maltreating the Natives — Bukuru — Patching Up a Leper — Ngell.
>p(.al^ It was a Saturday morning ; the R.M.S. " Falaba " was
lying in the Mersey roadstead. A number of friends from
different parts of the British Isles had come to bid us God-
speed. Many loads needed our careful attention. There
were tents and food supplies, camp furniture and medicine
chests, rifles and cartridges, and many other things that are
wanted for a trans-African tour,* with my black boy Tom
perched on the top.
We had also with us building materials for the proposed
Freed Slaves' Home in Northern Nigeria. A somewhat
lengthy farewell, and we were off down the Mersey. The first
glimpse we had of the Dark Continent was the lighthouse
of Cape Verde. After calling at Sierra Leone and some
coast towns, on Tuesday, October 27th, at 7 a.m., our boat
cast anchor in Forcados roadstead, the western estuary of
the Niger Delta.
The two Government river steamers S.W. " Kapelle " and
S.W. "Corona" met the "Falaba," and left at 11 o'clock;
while we waited for the Niger Company's steamer, which
had been arranged for from London to take us up river.
* Vide Appendix for Outfit List.
6
From the Bay of Benin to the Bukuru Plateau.
An exceptionally large number of passengers — about 50 —
were on board for Northern Nigeria, and both the " Kapelle "
and the " Corona " were crowded. The Niger Company's
S.W. " Scarborough " came alongside later on and took off
five missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, and there
were only the eight of us left.
Not till Thursday, October 29th, did the stern-wheeler
" Liberty " arrive from Lokoja to carry us up country.
In a tropical downpour we trans-shipped, and reached
Burutu, the first Niger Company's station at sunset.
While going along the west coast I had looked forward to
securing my former headboy Dangana, if that were possible,
but where and how to find him in Northern Nigeria was a
problem. Imagine my very pleasant surprise when, on our
arriving at Forcados, my boy Tom brought me the news
that Dangana had arrived on board and was waiting for me.
His ugly, honest face had as broad a grin on it as ever.
At Burutu we purchased provisions, and left on Friday
morning, October 30th. The boat was so deeply laden, that
when a heavy shower of rain commenced we had to anchor
to prevent being swamped. In the early hours of the morn-
ing a surf boat, which we had alongside, was filled to the
gunwale by the rain, and became awash with the waves.
We lost an hour in baling her out again, and then went on
through the delta.
The scenery on the river banks is like that of all tropical
rivers, most beautiful. Any number of valuable trees, such as
ebony, redwood, mahogany, and others clothed them with
thick vegetation, from which huts and plantations peeped
as bright eyes out of the shadows. We passed about a dozen
villages during the day, anchored again during the night
in drenching rain, and arrived at Abo on Sunday, November
ist. Here we left the Niger Delta, and entered the main
river. A little later on in the day we fished up a dug-out
7
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
canoe that had evidently been torn from its moorings in the
previous night's tornado, and at 8 o'clock in the evening we
were opposite Onitsha, half way to Lokoja. Dr. Alexander
and I went ashore, and, when returning from the town, lost
our way and wandered about until after lo o'clock before
we succeeded in finding the boat.
Monday and Tuesday went by while we slowly ploughed
VIEW OF LOKOJA.
up the dark, muddy river. At times the speed was exasperat-
ingly slow, and I was very glad when on Wednesday at mid-
day Lokoja hove in sight. Before the steamer had drawn
alongside the wharf I departed in a small boat and hastened
to see the Marine Superintendent for Northern Nigeria,
Captain Elliott.
I had been informed that Sir Percy Girouard, the Governor
of Northern Nigeria, desired me to call at Zungeru previous
to his departure for the Northern States, Sokoto and Kano ;
and I was anxious to comply with his wishes, especially as
certain important questions, including the transfer of the
From the Bay of Benin to the Bukuru Plateau.
freed slave children from Zungeru to the Lucy Memorial
Home (so-called in memory of my late wife) at Rumasha,
made a conference with His Excellency imperative.
I found Captain Elliott most friendly and ready to help.
The Governor's private boat, the " Corona," was going with
15 officers up the Niger to Baro and Mureji, and Captain
Elliott placed the Governor's cabin on her at my disposal.
He also wired to Mureji, a village at the mouth of the Kaduna
river, instructing the agent there to have the fastest canoe
ready for me, as the steamers cannot ascend it in the dry
season. I was able to tranship within 10 minutes of my
arrival.
Two days and a quarter of splendid fast poling against a
strong current took our dug-out canoe over the 85 miles
between Mureji and Barejuko. Canoes usually take five
days to cover the distance.
On Tuesday, November loth, I arrived at Zungeru, having
travelled the last 25 miles from Barejuko on the steam tram
at the good rate of eight miles an hour.
On my arrival at Zungeru station I found a horse waiting
to take me to Government House, and also a number of
carriers to attend to my loads. His Excellency the Governor
took me to see his new well-planned irrigation farm, watered
by four Egyptian shadufs, the Government Freed Slaves'
Home, the prison and the new railway line.
He wrote to the Residents of the Benue Provinces instructing
them to give me every assistance in furthering my visit. His
friendliness \\dll always remain with me a happy memory.
The Secretary to the Administration, Mr. M. H. de la Poer-
Beresford, Sir Percy's private secretary and aide-de-camp,
also placed me under obligations. When I left on Thursday,
November 12th, the Governor arranged for a special train
to take me back to Barejuko, and then on by steamer to
Lokoja.
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Lokoja had very much changed since I was there four
years before. Large, well-appointed shops flanked the river.
Roads with deeply dug ditches on each side, and multitudes
of new bungalows, gave the impression of a rapidly growing,
flourishing industrial centre. White buildings, a fine red
brick church showing up well against the green background,
and behind it all the rocky heights of Patte * Hill, looked
charmingly picturesque.
The three largest towns of the future in Nigeria will prob-
ably be Lagos, the coast town ; Lokoja, at the meeting of
the Niger and the Benue, the transit centre between Northern
and Southern Nigeria ; and Baro, the starting point of the
Kano Railway.
After my return to Lokoja business had to be transacted
with the Superintendent of Public Works, the C.M.S,
Missionaries, the Marine Superintendent, the Cantonment
Magistrate, the Postmaster-General, and the Niger Company.
This took a considerable amount of time.
On November 20th, 1908, I left Lokoja in a small Niger
Company's steamer with the materials for the main building
of the Freed Slaves' Home on board, and on the next day
we arrived at Rumasha. My first impression was that a far
more imposing site might have been chosen. There is no
bold bluff, no palm grove, no rocky eminence — nothing but
a gentle slope upwards from the river ; and then, 500 yards
inland, a grass grown elevation of about 80 feet above the
level of the river. But further acquaintance modified my
earlier opinion.
The Freed Slaves' Home will peep out of the surrounding
green verdure, seen by all who pass by on the river — as white
snowdrops at home, a sign of the spring of this land.
Half round the Home runs a creek with a great deal of
valuable iron wood on both banks.
* Patte means " mountain."
10
From the Bay of Benin to the Bukuru Plateau.
Two weeks I spent with Messrs. Martin, Young, Botha
and Dr. Alexander until a heach was cleared, a rough road
GRINDING GUINEA-CORN.
made, all the building material transported up to the site,
a bungalow half finished, and some 15 temporary grass
huts erected.
After that it
seemed time that I
should depart, if I
wished to see
Bukuru before a
Conference, which
had been arranged
at Ibi for January
loth, 1909.
I started on my
overland trek on
WOMEN WITH WATER-POi;
13
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Monday, December 6th. Every morning at dawn we began
our journey, and with the sun in the zenith usuahy reached our
destination.
My horse was a poor one, and I had to walk the greater
part of the w^ay. This was good for me as well as for the
horse. Both horse and rider at the finish of the first 200
miles were in better condition than at the beginning.
The road into the mountains just beyond Karshi is most
interesting and exciting. To the left of the road is a
A CHIEF'S HORSE.
magnificent waterfall, and the path itself in many places
looks like a staircase.
Leaving a stockaded village to the right after a steep ascent,
we halted at the foot of a magnificent granite cliff, which
towered some 800 to 1,000 feet above us. A cool mountain
brook, in whose clear water brilliantly coloured trout played,
sang its murmuring melody, leaping over the glossy rocks
and diving into the shadows of the rubber trees in front of
the newly-pitched tent. Baboons were growling and barking
in the distance, and bright plumed birds twittered their
14
From the Bay of Benin to the Bukuru Plateau.
evening song among the leaves of the palm trees. Soon a
few shelters were formed with sticks and branches, thatched
witli the long, rank grass, and here and there fires began to
flare up.
The romantic scene of a traveller's camp in the tropics is
difficult to clothe in words.
Some two or three villages hidden away in the surrounding
bush were inhabited by absolutely naked natives, as shy as
deer at home.
On returning from their fields they would perambulate
in a circle of at least i,ooo 3'ards' diameter around our newly-
formed encampment, keeping well away from us ; and only
when they imagined themselves unobserved, and hidden
behind the rocks or trees, did they dare with open mouths
and staring eyes to look at the strange, white man. All
were armed with bows and poisoned arrows, with spears
and hatchets. It took much time before I succeeded with
tempting beads to coax some of the braves to approach the
tent. None of my men spoke the language of the people,
and thus our difficulties of communication were considerable.
I pointed to some pieces of dried wood, and endeavoured to
convey to the natives my desire that they should bring us
firewood. After a while they understood, and stalking away,
returned, each of them most solemnly carrying a tiny stick
some 6 inches long, and very respectfully deposited it by the
side of the fire. I doled out one bead each and repeated
my signs. An enterprising young man brought two sticks
the next time, and received two beads, and after that
there was no difficulty. They made a race for it, and an
abundance of firewood, enough for the night, was at our
disposal.
Then I attempted to secure provisions. Small seeds (called
by the natives "Atcha"; it makes good palatable porridge)
gathered from a species of grass are the staple food of the
15
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
people. I made the sign of eating, and tried to make them
understand that I wanted food. The chief of one of the
villages, who had arrived in the meantime and received a
couple of gay-coloured handkerchiefs, sent on one of his
hopefuls to bring food. There was much gesticulating and
much screaming. The boy returned carrying a small handful
of tiny seeds. These would not go far as supplies for my 40
people. A pinch of salt was much appreciated by the youngster.
One old man, who offered us a small basin full of these seeds,
brought at the same time a sack with him made of the skin
of a large antelope, and insisted that he should have this sack
filled with salt in payment. I laughed at him, and in the
end he was quite happy with a handful.
Money the people did not know. I made an attempt
to introduce silver coinage, but as, in exchange for a
shilling I only secured one egg — and that a bad one — I
gave it up. Sugar was also unknown. I gave a handful
to a child, who tasted it and threw it away. Thereupon
I gave him a little salt, and he licked all his fingers.
Blessings on the little savage !
Empty cartridges were much in demand as neck and ear
ornaments. My carriers had saved up plenty, and now they
purchased quantities of provisions with them.
The people had no idea of fire-arms. One of the hunters
was asked to shoot with his bow and arrow at a tree some
30 yards away, and he succeeded in hitting it. Then he
asked me to fire, which I did, and when on approaching the
tree they found that a hard-nosed "405 Winchester bullet
had drilled its way right through the 18-inch trunk and
entered a second tree some distance behind the first, they
opened their mouths wide and put their hands over them,
thus expressing their astonishment at this great Ju-ju.
The second performance consisted in my pointing at a
slab of white rock three-quarters of the distance up the cliff
16
From the Bay of Benin to the Bukuru Plateau.
some 800 yards away, and informing my audience that I would
put a black mark on it. They looked at me sideways ; they
looked me up and down, and they began to laugh amongst
themselves.
" The white man is trying to make fun of us."
I fired, and the black mark appeared on the white slab.
By 9 o'clock in the evening I had the population of the
three villages round me. There was much " tom-tomming,"
guitar-strumming, lu-luing of women, and a general holiday.
And when the next morning my little caravan left, on every
rock around sat perched an ebony heathen clapping his hands,
shouting, and waving farewell.
Near noon I came upon a number of native porters carrying
tin from the Naraguta mines to Loko on the Benue. It is
remarkable what loads these natives are wilhng to carry
to secure some luxuries of European civilisation. I have seen
tin-carriers with a triple load weighing 180 to 200 lbs. on
their heads, running with it at a half-trot along the bush path.
Carrier after carrier, with his small bag of black tin on his
woolly head, passed us. A number of my men were ahead of
me when a general halt occurred. I rode out of the line, and as
the country was open I could see that three or four naked
pagans in front had been set upon by half-a-dozen of the
straggling tin carriers. I saw one of the latter tear away
the goat-skin food bag from a heathen, and when the man
objected, get him by the throat and threaten with his knife
to do mischief. Without hesitating a moment I put the
spurs into my horse, and galloped along the line of my carriers
to where the free fight was taking place. I had heard from
Government men and a number of natives that the tin-carriers
had commenced to bully the pagans, to steal their women,
and. whenever they found themselves in sufficient numbers,
to oppress them. When I appeared on the scene the fight
suddenly came to an end. There was no mistaking what
17 c
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
had happened, and I proceeded for the first and last time
on this journey to administer as sound a chastisement with
my riding whip as I could.
Unless such maltreatment of the indigenous tribes of these
mountain regions by those passing through is put an end
to, these tribesmen will waylay the strangers and porters
and kill them. Then a punitive expedition will be sent
amongst them, and a considerable number of them be
hastened into eternity, all because of the thievish propen-
sities of the wretched carriers.
On Wednesday, December 22nd, my little caravan reached
Bukuru, a town of some 6,000 inhabitants. The whole
district includes about 50 villages of the Kibyen tribe, which —
living within a circle of some 20 miles from Bukuru — numbers,
roughly speaking, 120,000 people. The whole of the plateau
land is healthy. Large deposits of tin constitute the main-
spring for the development of those highlands. The people
are independent and very brave. High cactus hedges encircle
their habitations, and the approach to the village leads through
narrow lanes and arches formed by poisonous cactus plants.
The mounted troops of the Mohammedan Sultans in the
north have not been able to make anything of the Kibyen
tribe. Like the natives of the Upper Nile the Kibyen despises
clothing. He looks upon garments as the fetters of slaves.
They are a moral-living people, and their brown colour and
their innocence are their dress.
I rode up to the Mission compound, and came upon Dr.
Emlyn bending over a leper and binding up his sores.
On the second day of my stay in Bukuru, amongst a
number of patients a woman came to the Mission com-
pound. She was unclothed, like all of them, and carried in
her arms a very happy healthy-looking baby, and in one
hand a calabash full of flour. She pointed to the baby,
to the doctor and to the flour, and put the calabash at the
18
BUKURU
and surrounding Villages.
Nat. Scale 1:750.000 or lInch=ll-84 Stat.Miles.
Jere
Amobissa
PJSne
^Gussant
*Bimt
JnVt NORTH
1
^FerraX,^
rAme >^ Thin bush
•Bobo /
^ 0Manibandi A Farms ,. •
^AchoJcCV (\ ^^S^ Tbtlw Gongola.
Kissayept *Bal^ / W^
Het • !L J ' ^^^''"^'^^^^
^ VTW/A/ MINE
To BajcLcTvL. BorruL
and L.ChxudL.
To the GongolcL
Toihe Gongola
'^J-Orn
Ogboro * NttbljO /\ PUuces underlined visited by DVETnlyn.
\ MonguxujL
••JKsvagir
PREPARED BY A. C. FRANCIS, ASSISTANT RESIDENT, BUKURU.
I
From the Bay of Benin to the Bukuru Plateau.
doctor's feet. He had saved the hfe of her child and she was
grateful.
During m}^ two days' stay in the Bukuru district, I lodged
in an outstation, Ngell, two miles from the main station. Mr.
Ghey had been in charge of Ngell, and had just left on furlough.
Ngell is a town of between 5,000 and 6,000 people. I had
made myself and my men at home at the Station when the
NGELL STATION, TIN HOLES.
pagan mayor of Ngell came to welcome me. After a few
minutes' conversation through my interpreter I asked the
chief how he liked Mr. Ghe}^ and through the interpreter
came the answer, " We love him. Is he not teaching us ?
Has he not given us almost everything we possess ? We cr}^
plenty too much when he go. He love us more than our
mothers love us." (My boy's pigeon English.)
Quite a fair testimony to the work of Mr. Ghey.
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
ROADS FROM THE BENUE TO BUKURU.
A.
Rumasha
1. Saggia
2. Tunga
3. Bakunu
4. Sangon Daji
5. Nassarawa
6. Laminga
7. Keffi
Time.
B.
Loko
6 hours
I.
ha
5 hours
2.
Wushini
6 hours
3-
Gindin Uuchi
5 hours
4-
Nassarawa
6 hours
s-
Laminga
4 hours
6.
Keffi
4 hours
36 hours
Time.
8 hours
6 hours
5 hours
5 hours
4 hours
4 hours
32 hours
C.
Keffi
1. Giddan Fulani
2. Mutum Daya
3. Kwakwosso
4. Jagindi
5. Jama'a
6. Gidan Duchi
7. Hauwan Kibo
8. Bukuru
T
ime.
6
hours
4
hours
4
hours
6
hours
6 hours
6 hours
6
hours
6
hours
44
hours
From the Bay of Benin to the Bukuru Plateau.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF THE KIBYEN PEOPLE ON
THE BUKURU PLATEAU.
Prepared by A. C. Francis, Esq.
Tribe.
Town.
Population.
Distance from
Bukuru.
Rukaba
Achaka
5,000 ...
30 miles.
,, ... .- .
Zamagan ...
Batsa
3,000 ...
3,000 . . .
24 „
Pachoia
Teria
15,000 ...
28 miles,
via Naraguta.
Ba
Amo
5,000 ...
32 miles.
,,
Amo Bissa
4,000 ...
30 »
Irrigwe ...
Kwall
9,300 ...
16 „
Burum ...
,,
Hepam
Refam
Bukuru
3,000 . . .
2,700 ...
10,500 ...
8 „
13 „
,,
Jol
Woran
2,300 ...
1,200 ...
19 „
9 „
„
Vom
12,000 ...
10 ,,
„
Rop
Assob
2,200 ...
2,500 ...
25 „
26 „
„
,, ... . ..
Rini
Kassa
Forum
3,400 ...
2,400 ...
10,800 ...
20 „
18 „
8 „
,,
„ ... ...
Ngell
Kuru
Tafaru
5,400 ...
3,500 ...
5,000 ...
I* „
16 „
Anaguta
Naraguta
5,000 ...
18 „
Narubunu
Birji
3,000 ...
26 _„
via Naraguta.
,,
Tare
5,000 ...
34 miles,
via Naraguta.
24 towns. Aggregate population, 124,200.
CHAPTER III.
From Bukuru to the Banks of the " Mother of
Waters."
Christmas Eve Dinner — Carriers' Troubles — Glued to their Horses — Flight
of Pagans — Christmas Day — A Narrow Escape — C.M.S., Panyam —
Shv Game — Food Scarce — Difficult Travelling — Among Cannibals —
The Yergum Tribe — Wase Rock.
Christmas Eve, 1908. The Assistant Resident, the Super-
intendent of PoHce, Dr. Emlyn and myself, were sitting at
dinner at the Government Post at Bukuru. In the more
civihsed parts of Northern Nigeria one generally wears white
dinner kit in the evening, but on this occasion we found that
thin white cotton and silk was not the clothing suitable for
a winter evening in an altitude of 4,000 feet.
A dinner in any of our tropical dependencies is nowadays
quite a civilised affair. Crockery and silver table ware, table-
cloths and serviettes, are de rigeur. What a change there
has been among the white men in Africa during the last fifty
years ! Explorers and Government men had then nolens
volens to descend to the simple life. To-day an evening
meal is a slight imitation of Shepherd's Hotel in Cairo or the
Cataract Hotel in Assuan. If no military band is to be
had a gramophone does service. Well-starched, uniformed
servants, a frenchified cook, cafe noir and, for some of them,
cigarettes, are matters of course. Voild the menu of our
evening's entertainment, music non est.
24
From Bukuru to the Banks of the " Mother of Waters."
MENU.
Consomme k la Boy-Boy.
Curried Cod's Roe.
Mince Nigerienne.
Dindon Roti.
Mouton Bouilli.
Omelette h. la confiture.
Welsh Rarebit.
Cafe.
The weather was so bitterly cold that after a few minutes
we felt that bed was the place for us, and so we departed.
I rode back to Ngell station, lost the road, and perambulated
around deep pits dug by the Niger Company in search of tin,
before I succeeded in reaching my hut about lo o'clock.
Early next morning I intended to continue my journey
by way of Panyam, Langtang, Rock Station to Dempar
on the Benue. Dr. Emlyn proposed to accompany me as far
as Panyam, 40 miles distant.
There are certain difficult i s connected with the daily
start in Africa ; the weighing and apportioning of the loads,
the roping of these loads, the bandaging of sore feet, the
cure of digestive troubles — for all these things are carefully
saved up by the boys till the last moment. And when every-
thing is finally ready one of the boys has "gone off to the
village to buy food." He is diligently trading, with the in-
evitable attendant discussion. That the white man and all
the other carriers have to wait and might, perchance, disUke
being kept waiting, does not enter his head. The natives are
so delightfully improvident and irresponsible. They are
quite ready to share their last crust, and the white man once
having secured their trust, they will do anything for him —
except be punctual.
Going east we passed through Bukuru town, with its windirg
road protected by the previously-mentioned cactus hedges,
25
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
whose poisoned thorny surfaces formed a ver}^ effective noli
me tangere for any mounted slave raiders, such as used to
come in days gone bj^ from the large Moslem cities in the
north.
Some miles further on we saw the village of Rafam before
us. This village had been "' palavered " a few months before.
It had refused to pay taxes, and in a haughty way had
insulted a representative of the Government. So the village
was " broken," a considerable number of mountain ponies
taken, and the natives taught a very severe lesson.
THE BUKURU PLATEAU, THE LAND OF THE TIN MINES.
The natives ride their mountain ponies barebacked, and
as they themselves wear no clothing, with the exception of
a weird loin cloth of plaited grass, riding the frisky ponies is
somewhat difficult. So they scratch the backs of their animals
until their blood exudes, and glue themselves on to the beasts
with their blood.
The agility of these animals is very remarkable. The men
came riding down precipitous places where it would have
26
From Bukuru to the Banks of the " Mother of Waters."
been absolutely impossible for me mounted to attempt a
descent. The ponies are exceedingly well-trained, and follow
their masters' call hke dogs. I noticed a man galloping
over the fields, balancing on his head a large bundle of grass
fodder for his equine friend.
The reception afforded us at Rafam was of the poorest,
as, in spite of our calls and shoutings, not a soul was to be
ANG.\SS HUTS AMONG THE ROCKS.
seen, all the villagers having decamped on our approach
for fear that the white man had come to levy toll.
Beyond Rafam lay the pathless rocky plateau, and we
desired to take a man from the village as a guide. After
in vain searching a number of compounds for their inhabitants,
Dr.\Emlyn suggested that we ride over to a sister village
belonging to the same tribe, where the people spoke the same
language.
This village was only three miles distant, and riding through
27
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
the fields we soon saw some of the people at work on their
farms. Much of the plateau is cultivated, and though the
millet and guinea-corn do not grow to any height and do not
bear well, yet by farming large areas the people get sufficient
food.
There are towns and hamlets spread in large numbers all
over these highlands, each one of them usually situated at
the foot of some rocky eminence. The immediate country
round Bukuru has been deforested by them to procure wood
for smelting iron, and there is hardly a tree to be seen.
At Tafam the chief and some of his elders came to see us
as we rested on the banks of a little brook just outside the
village. We exchanged presents, asked him for a guide,
and after having refreshed ourselves in the clear water of the
stream, we continued our march beyond the village through
a pass between two hills, and then came out on to the un-
dulating plain beyond. There was at first some kind of path
leading to the farms of the people, and we followed the direc-
tion indicated by our guide, who desired our permission to
return, as he was afraid to spend the night outside the village.
We let him go and advanced alone. A number of natives
whom we met at 4 o'clock coming back from their farms,
when they saw us, dived like deer into the long grass, ran
with long leaps in a half circle around us, and escaped to
their houses amongst the hills.
Later on we crossed a little brook, and, as there were some
trees beyond, we formed camp, pitched the tent, and rested
for the night. I called this place " Christmas Camp," as it
was Christmas evening we spent there, and cut a " C.C."
into a large tree. The night was again bitterly cold, and
in spite of four blankets, an overcoat, and a mackintosh, I
shivered. My usual hot bath in the evening was not much
of a success, as the lukewarm water made me shake and long
for a closed-in hut and a warm fire.
28
From Bukuru to the Banks of the '' Mother of Waters."
Long before day we were out of our beds, had put on our
riding gear, taken the tent down, and in about 20 minutes
from the time we woke we were away on the road.
Several bad rivers blocked our way, and our horses found
difficulty in many places in climbing over the rocky ground.
At midday we saw the large village of Mongur before us.
We went round it without resting, as our destination for that
day — Panyam — was still a long way off. An hour later we
saw the village of Bong under a number of shady trees to
the north of us. We missed the direction and went wrong
to the right, but were redirected by a native who knew a
few words of Hausa, and who kindly volunteered to lead us
to a path that would bring us to Panyam in a few hours.
After having chased in vain a small herd of antelope in the
hope of securing fresh meat, we saw before us a small river,
the bed of which consisted of large slabs of slippery basalt.
I was going to ride my horse across, when several of my men
came running back with excited gesticulations and asked
me to dismount. One of them who spoke Hausa informed
me that if I rode across we should both fall and break
our legs. The men had good reason to be frightened,
as my horse had hardly stepped on to the stones when it
came down and rolled over and over, being unable to secure
a footing. By main force I had to haul it over the stones,
and, trembling, it scrambled up the further bank.
Another hour's riding and, in a beautifully sheltered
nook amongst magnificent rocks, with a clear stream flow-
ing in a half circle around it, we found the newly-estab-
lished Mission Station of the Cambridge University Party
of the Church Missionary Society, Panyam. The natives
evidently have the greatest confidence in Mr. Fox and the
other men with him.
Three comfortable, mud buildings of three or four rooms
each formed the Station, with an attempt at a flower garden
29
From Hciusaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
in front. Tables with tablecloths, books, papers and easy
chairs made this outpost of European civilisation look ex-
ceedingly homelike.
I pitched my tent on the football ground in front of the
Station, while Dr. Emlyn stayed in one of the Mission houses.
When on Monday morning at 7 o'clock my caravan was ready,
and I had said good-bye to the missionaries, and waved my
last farewell to Dr. Emlyn, I left a district behind me in these
IN THE ANGASS COUNTRY — DR. EMLYN'S LODGINGS.
TATTO'S HOUSE.
high, healthy hills, which presented possibilities for consider-
able developments, and gave indications of becoming as
promising a white man's country as the Plateau of British
East Africa.
We passed the villages of Jardi, Mako and Tun ; then
followed a stretch of uncultivated land witli a fair amount
of game. The game was shy. I shot my first antelope (a
From Bukuru to the Banks of the " Mother of Waters."
Cobus cob) at mid-day on this journey. I posted two of my
boys within sight of two antelopes who kept watching them,
while I myself crawled down the dry bed of a brook and thus
got within 50 yards. I could have shot both beasts, but found
I had only one cartridge with me, and although I waited a
little, they would not oblige me by moving into Hne so that
I might have dropped them both with one shot.
At 3 p.m. we formed camp at Panchim, close to some deep
pools containing a good supply of whitish water. Men were
sent to the village near by to purchase food, but they came
back after a while without obtaining much, as the people
had little left, and the harvest had not yet begun.
During the next two days the travelling was as bad as any
I experienced on my whole tour, with, perhaps, the one
exception of the swamps between the Shari and the Bahr-el-
Arab.
Immediately beyond Panchim we entered the " Rocky
Mountains." We climbed up and down steep, stony terraces
— which in some places looked like staircases — without a
path or even a trail, guided by natives whom we had
persuaded to lead us to Wokos. Wokos is a Residency, and
Captain Foulkes in charge. He was just about to start for
Panchim whence I had come, and where he was building
a new Government Post. We had luncheon together and
then he left. The view from the platform outside my hut
was magnificent. The country lay spread out at my feet
for some 40 or 60 miles, and from an elevation of 4,200 feet
above sea-level we looked down 3,000 feet into the low, foot
hills of the Murchison Range.
All the afternoon the sound of tom-tom and fife came up
to us from the valleys beneath, where the natives were har-
vesting their corn, singing and dancing while they gathered
the grain. It all sounded so cheerful and happy, like the
music of joyful children.
31
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Next morning for the first two hours we descended the
3,000 feet. Once or twice I thought my horses would turn
somersaults as they dropped down stone steps 4 or 5 feet
in height. I was compelled to look away ; it seemed im-
possible that they could come down safely, but they did.
At 8 o'clock we had a few minutes' rest by the side of a well
in the rocks close to a village called Monok, situated on a
CHILDREN PLAYING " TOUCH FOOT, TOUCH KNEE," AMONG
THE ANGASS.
spur of the hills. The smiling chief of this village brought
me guinea-corn for my horses, and leaping down through the
rocks among which his village was built, he led us towards
a path. At 10.30 we came to Government rest houses, spent
the mid-day there, and reached the village of Ampir in the
afternoon,
32
From Bukuru to the Banks of the " Mother of Waters."
Thus in a seven hours' march we came down from the
Bauchi Hills into the Plains.
The unshod hoofs of my poor horses were worn away a
good deal, and they went alternately lame on their different
feet as they scrambled over the stones. I therefore walked
the greater part of the day.
On the last day of the year igo8 we reached the dry river
bed of the Wase River, travelled for some distance along
CHIEF OF THE YERGUAI.
its southern bank, and came to Brot, one of the two main
towns of the Yergum tribe. Later we skirted the Gazum^
Hills, and at noon arrived at Langtang, the other centre
of the Yergum tribe and a Mission Station of the Sudan United
Mission.
This day's march led us through hills inhabited by cannibals.
The Gazum have not yet been brought into subjection. They
told the Yergum that they had tasted the flesh of many
33 D
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
different nations ; they had eaten Hausas, Fulanis, Ankwes,
Montoils and others, but they had never tasted a white man
yet, and they were anxiously watching for one to come
along.
VERGUM HUNTERS WATCHING BRICK MAKING
AT LANGTANG,
A chief of the Gazum, named Miri, came to see me when,
in 1905, I stayed at Pioneer Camp in the neighbourhood of
the Wase Rock. He was then quite friendly and brought
presents, for which I gave him others in return. The
Gazum evidently are more dangerous than the other
cannibal tribes, of which a traveller tells us that they would
not like to eat white men, as the white men were " not ripe,"
the flesh covered by a sickly white skin evidently not being
thought quite wholesome. The people in the Murchison
Range seem to know better, and look upon the white man
as perfectly ripe ; in fact, the 60-year-old chief of a village
there said that the white man must be at least ten times
34
From Bukuru to the Banks of the " Mother of Waters."
as old as he was, for in 60 years his hair was white, but the
white man was white all over.
The Yergum people live in small hamlets spread about
sporadically over the country side. These hamlets usually
'PUTTING A HAT ON TO THE HUT AND THE HOME
IS FINISHED."
consist of some four or half-a-dozen compounds belonging
to one family. From the top of the Langtang Juju Hill
one can see between 40 to 50 of them partly hidden away
amongst the guinea-corn fields. The natives wear little
clothing, the usual covering consisting of a goat -skin or a
loin-cloth. Only the chiefs and elders are dressed in Hausa
tobes, which are long, flowing cotton gowns, with large sleeves
ornamented with coloured embroidery.
This whole Yergum plain would probably become an ex-
cellent cotton country, for the cotton grown at the Mission
Station of Langtang is of quite a good quality. If wants
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
could be created amongst the natives which would lead them
to work, the labour difficulty would be overcome.
Looking towards the south and south-east a vast plain
spreads out at the foot of the hills, with only here and there
a small kopje rising out of it ; but some 12 miles to the south-
east the Wase Rock, a wonderful monolith, probably the
centre cone of an ancient volcano, towers to a height of almost
1,000 feet above the flat country. It was at tjie foot of this
THE WASE ROCK.
great rock that in 1904 I had the privilege of laying out the
first Mission Camp amongst the pagans.
Considerable development has taken place through the whole
of Northern Nigeria since that day, but much yet remains
to be done in the working of the natural resources of that
land, and in the civilisation and education of its natives.
On January 2nd, 1909, in the early morning, the caravan
left Langtang, and arrived at Rock Station at 9.45 a.m. We
From Bukuru to the Banks of the " Mother of Waters."
stayed there over Sunday, and went to Dempar, on the banks
of the " Mother of Waters " (Benue), on January 5th.
The old Chief of Wase (the southernmost Fulani colony
in that part of Northern Nigeria), a man who had been ex-
ceedingly friendly to me during my former stay in the neigh-
bourhood of his town, welcomed me, but complained that
DOGERI, DR. KUMMS HUNTER FROM WASE.
he was suffering much from sores and rheumatism, for which
his people knew no remedy. He begged me to ask one of
the medical men of the Mission or the Government doctor
to come and see him. He would gladly pay for it. But I
found it impossible to send him one, and I heard shortly
afterwards that he had died.
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan,
The population of Wase has been decreasing since the
British occupation, as the tribal wars have ceased, and people
can live safely on their farms and in hamlets in the open
country without needing the protection of town wall and moat.
Peace and plenty are spreading their blessing throughout
the land, and the pagan natives, reahsing it, are grateful.
FROM BUKURU TO WASE.
Bukuru to Christmas
Camp
i6 miles
. 7 1
liou
Christmas Camp to Panyam
25 „
H
?'
Panyam to Panchim
18 „
6
5?
Panchim to Wokos
8 „
2
?1
WokostoAmpir ...
16 „
7
i)
Ampir to Langtang
16 „
6
)?
Langtang to Wase...
12 „
3l
?»
Together
III
401 „
The time taken for the mileage on the different marches
indicates the respective difficulties of the road.
38
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m
CHAPTER IV.
On the Kamerun Border.
Wukari — S.U.M. — Game — The Munchis and Their Country — Talcum —
Result of a Practical Joke — Donga — Farmers and Buffaloes — Buffalo
Hunting — A Race for the Bush — Leopard and Water-buck — Lion-land.
The " Mother of Waters " flowing from the mountains of
Adamawa into the Niger (the Black River) had been crossed.
I had attended a gathering of missionaries at Ibi, the
metropoHs of the Benue, and was on my way southward to
MISSIONARY CONFERENCE AT IBI.
39
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
the frontier between British and German territory. My men
were running with the chain in front of me to measure the
REV. C. W. GUINTER, MISSIONARY AT WUKARI.
road from Ibi to Wukari, as there seemed some doubt as to
the exact distance of the latter place. The raised path made
travelling easy, and though our horses were still tired, we
40
On the Kamerun Border.
got over the ground at a fair rate. We had started in the
afternoon from the newly laid out Mission Station at Ibi,
camped at a little village called Raiin Soja, and reached
Wukari the following day, after a hot and thirsty march.
Wukari has a famous crocodile pond, in which a large
number of tame crocodiles disport themselves close to the
arms and legs of women, who wash therein and fill their water
pots without fear. The chief of Wukari, who is an exceed-
ingly portly and affable gentleman, has an excellent reputa-
tion in all the neighbouring villages on account of his justice
and straightforwardness. He, and the chief of Dempar,
are accounted to be two of the best native chiefs in the Muri
province of Northern Nigeria.
Two missionaries of the Sudan United Mission were doing
good work at Wukari. One of them, a horticulturist, Mr.
Hoover, B.A., from Cornell University in the United States
of America, had successfully grown a number of European
vegetables, and enjoyed quite a reputation amongst the
people as a doctor, having had some experience in medical
work during the Spanish- American War. The other. Rev.
C. W. Guinter, B.A., also of the United States of America,
is much liked by all the natives.
The Sudan United Mission, in which the writer is interested,
is a union effort controlled by leaders of various Protestant
denominations in Great Britain, America and South Africa.
The raison d'etre of this Mission is to attempt to counteract
the Mohammedan advance in Central Africa by winning the
pagan tribes to the Christian religion. It aims at securing
for each tribe at least three white missionaries, a medical
man, an ordained educationist and a horticulturist.
There is a good deal of small game in the neighbourhood
of Wukari, and during my stay I found no difficulty in
supplying the larder with fresh meat in the shape of reed-
buck and duiker.
41
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
At the end of January I left for the frontier post of Takum,
which lies in the corner between Southern Nigeria, Northern
Nigeria and the German Kameruns. To get there I had
to pass through several villages of the Munchi tribe. These
Munchis form one of the largest tribes of Nigeria, and are
not yet properly brought into subjection. They have re-
peatedly attacked stations of the Niger Company, destroyed
them and killed a number of the officials.
The Munchi country is covered by virgin forest, only narrow
paths winding their way through its shadows. The whole
country is made for ambush, and punitive expeditions have
thus far had little success. The people are warlike and free.
They are clever farmers, owning cattle, goats and pigs, and
plantations of considerable size. Their houses are well-built,
and some of them exceedingly large. In one of the villages
the chief's hut, with a conically-shaped grass roof, was no less
than II yards in diameter. The men are tall and strong,
their legs and arms, as well as chests, showing magnificent
muscular development ; and many of the women are quite
pretty. Their granaries are small huts raised from the ground
some 6 feet on piles. Around the village there is usually a
stockade. The whole reminded one of an early settlement
of our Saxon forefathers. The Munchis are pagans. They
are great hunters and are feared by the tribes around them,
who, while looking down upon them, respect them. To
see these Munchis march into the market-place at Wukari
with bold and self-assertive bearing, bringing their farm
produce in the hope of exchanging it for bars of pig-iron
which they use for tools and agricultural implements, gives
the onlooker the impression that here he has to do with a
noble, free-born tribe, capable of great development.
The Munchis wear, beside sword and spear, curiously shaped
handknives, which are secured by an iron ring around the
palm of the hand. Money is unknown amongst them. When
42
On the Kamerun Border.
on my last journey through Northern Nigeria in 1905, I offered
pieces of silver to a Munchi on the banks of the Benue in
exchange for his handknife, he, with supreme contempt,
turned his back on me, scorning the white man's money.
The white man is not the demi-god among the Munchis, such
as he feels himself to be among other pagan tribes in Northern
Nigeria. Government officials and traders have to walk
" softly, softly,'" among them. The tribe has not yet been
touched by missionaries.
m
ROOF THATCHING.
On January 31st my little caravan reached Takum, a town
belonging to the Siteri tribe, situated in a small plain among
the hills. The highest of these hills on the north side of
Takum I found with an aneroid barometer to be 1,450 feet.
At Takum I met an official from Southern Nigeria who
had walked up from the coast. He had been engaged in a
punitive expedition amongst the tribes of Southern Nigeria,
43
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
had visited Ibi, where he had purchased provisions, and was
now on his way back to the coast.
He had his camp outside the town wall, where a remarkable
number of huts seemed to have been built quite lately. I
enquired of him why such a large camp had been prepared,
and he informed me that a native, formerly in the Govern-
ment service, had played a practical joke on the chief of
Takum by pretending to come from the Resident of the Pro-
vince, demanding from the chief food supplies, and instructing
VILLAGE STREET, WITH SHOPS.
him to erect immediately this large number of huts, as the
Governor of the country would be coming to Takum in a
few days. All the inhabitants had been busily at work for
days, and when no Governor appeared, they were much put
out by the hoax that had been played upon them.
Takum, in days gone by, used to be an important trade
centre through which considerable Hausa caravans from the
north passed into German territory ; but as the export and
the import of trade goods into the Kameruns has been made
44
On the Kamerun Border.
difficult through the German Customs, the trade is suffering
and has come almost to a standstill.
The Niger Company used to have a trading post at Takum,
but has given it up.
The mountainous country around this place forms the water-
shed between the Cross River and Benue. The rock forma-
tion is grauwacke and basalt, and is a continuation of the
Adamawa mountains. A large number of baboons and a
special kind of Cobus cob inhabit the rocky heights. Members
of some half-a-dozen different tribes form the Takum town,
but if the trade conditions remain as bad as they are at the
present moment, the people of the town will probably dis-
perse again to their various tribes. A number of huts inside
the town wall are already empty, and grass grows in the
compounds.
On February 3 I left Takum and returned to Ibi. On my
way I called at Donga, a large village on the banks of the
Donga River. Two small dug-outs, crazy looking affairs,
are the only means of crossing the river, and in fear and
trembling I entrusted my boxes, bags and guns to these un-
stable crafts. I had heard much about the herds of buffalo
around Donga, and looked forward to meeting with them.
The Rev. Joseph W. Baker, S.T.B., a coloured missionary,
who was formerly a non-commissioned officer in the West
India Regiment, from which he brought a splendid record,
and who had studied later on in the United States of America,
was working at Donga for the Sudan United Mission as one
of their agents. He was an exceptionally good shot and had
killed several buffaloes both at Donga and at Dempar, for
which the natives of these places seemed very grateful. The
buffaloes came out of the bush and long grass at night into
the farms, and the damage which such a herd succeeds in
. doing in one night may be very serious. The fields bordering
on the bush are watched over by men who spend the nights
45
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
in trees tom-tomming, shouting and singing, to drive away
the buffaloes, who usually take very little notice of this whole-
hearted endeavour of the farmer to protect his field.
Three times Mr. Baker and I went out after buffalo, but
each time we failed to come up with them. We saw their
spoor, heard them, and even smelt them, but failed to see
them. Once, while following the tunnels they had made
through the long elephant grass, we could hear them rumbling
mBBHIIii,^ ^^
^a
GOVERNMENT POST AT IBI.
quite close, and as any escape in case we were charged was
out of the question, we spent two or three exciting minutes
with nerves alarmingly alive, but the expected charge did
not take place, and with disconcerting grunts the beasts made
off.
It was half-past four on the last morning at Donga when
the loads were packed, and I was just having my early cup
46
On the Kamerun Border.
of tea, preparing for my journey back to Ibi, when suddenly
a native hunter came into my hut with the news that the
farmers across the river were tom-tomming excitedly, calling
to us, and the hunter was quite sure that buffaloes were out
in the fields doing damage. Would I come ? A moment's
hesitation, and I decided to have a last try. Across the
river we went, and ploughed our way through the muddy
paths between the cornfields whence we heard the tom-tom-
ming. The stars were beginning to pale when we stood under
a tree, and questioned the farmer resting in its branches
about the buffaloes. We were told they were quite close,
not 200 yards away.
Carefully we stalked forward, feeling our way with our
feet, and endeavouring not to tread on dry wood or stones,
as the slightest sound of this kind would send the herd away
at a rush, A minute or two and the hunter just in front
stopped behind a low thorn bush, touched my arm, and
pointed into the darkness ahead. Straining my eyes I could
just make out two large forms some 25 yards away. They
looked like large anthills. I saw the first anthill come to
life. A great head with magnificent horns turned towards
me, nostrils in the air, feet pawing the ground. The enormous
brute stood sideways on, with just his head turned in my
direction, and offered an excellent shot. I threw up my
rifle, aiming somewhat low at the shoulder, not wishing to
shoot through the hollow between the spine and the top of
the lungs. I distinctly heard the bullet with a hard click
strike the bone. Between my shot and the rush of the beasts
there was not a second of time. They were standing at the
edge of the long grass and disappeared immediately. 1 fired
another shot at the second beast, but missed.
From the moment I had seen the animals to the moment
they disappeared it could not have been more than 10 seconds
at the outside.
47
From Hausaland to Etrypt, through the Sudan.
It was beginning to dawn, the buffaloes were making a
terrible ado in the long grass, and I hesitated somewhat to
go after them, when the native hunter suggested a detour
to cut off the escaping herd from the ravine towards which
they were evidently going. At the entrance to the ravine
the grass was short, and a number of large trees offered shelter,
and also the possibility of a good view.
We went through the fields at a great rate, running our
hardest with the idea of making better time than the beasts
in the long grass. Half a mile and we were in the ravine.
Turning to the left we passed along the edge until we were
opposite the long grass through which we expected the herd.
The hunter climbed a tree and searched the grass before him.
It was now day ; the sun had risen, but in spite of the light
nothing could be seen of the buffaloes. They seemed to have
entirely disappeared. There might, of course, have been
hundreds of buffaloes in the grass without our being able to
see them. Men on horseback would disappear entirely, as
just about here the stalks of the elephant grass were in many
places 12 to 15 feet high. For an hour we waited, and then
slowly went back to the place where I had wounded my beast.
We took up the spoor, which was plainly marked with the
red blood drops, showing the air bubbles of a lung shot.
Where the animal had touched the grass with its shoulders
one could measure the height where the bullet had entered.
It was evidently a low lung shot, piercing both lungs. We
followed the spoor for some 60 or 70 yards, when it turned
back for about 10 yards, and a pool of blood marked the
place where the animal had waited for the hunter two yards
from the old spoor. This did not look very promising.
Another 50 yards and the same tactics had been repeated
by the animal. At this point it had evidently lain down
for a few minutes, waited, and as nobody came had gone on.
I followed another 30 or 40 yards, and then I am afraid my
48
On the Kamerun Border,
pluck gave out. To follow the spoor one had, of course, to
creep on hands and knees through the tunnel the animal
had made.
I returned to the edge of the grass, sent for all my men,
and spent four hours in searching the long grass where I
expected the beast lay hidden ; but after my carriers had
THE CHIEF OF DEMPAR.
been over the same ground two or three times, I gave it up
much disappointed. Had I had a dog at my disposal I should
very probably have secured the animal. This has been the
first and only time that I have seen a wild animal deliberately
lie in wait for the hunter. There was no charge, but there
must evidently have been reflection in the animal and a
49 E
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
feeling of revenge. I asked the chief of the place to let me
have the horns of the bush-cow if it were found, but I never
heard any more about it.
On the other side of the kurnii Mr. Baker had shot a leopard.
He had wounded a water-buck, and, following the buck about
five minutes after he had fired he found it dead, and by its
side a full-grown leopai-d attracted by the smell of the fresh
blood.
YOUTHFUL CAVALIERS.
The leopard slipped away, but Baker had seen it. He
left the buck, and, returning after half an hour, found the
leopard and killed it with a shot through the head.
A number of beautiful Colobus monkeys inhabit the ravines
around Donga. They are very affectionate, beautiful creatures.
A week later I was back in Ibi. Mr. Baker had accom-
panied me, a Mr. Hosking from South Africa joined our party,
and the three of us went along the north bank of the Benue
from Ibi to Dempar in the hope of securing a lion or two
which were reported to be in that locality. I, myself, when
50
On the Kamerun Border.
coming down from Dempar to Ibi in the boat a few weeks
before, had seen fresh Hon spoor on the north bank of the
river, and had eagerly looked forward to meeting with them.
Antelopes there were in great numbers and we procured a good
deal of fresh meat, but of lions there were none.
One day, however, while we were camped at a large pool
some five miles north of the Benue in an open plain, I was
sitting in front of my tent after luncheon enjoying a siesta,
CHILDREN AT PLAY AT THE MISSION STATION OF DEMPAR.
when I heard the voice of my small boy Peter, about 200
yards away, calling out in great distress. His voice sounded
desperate, as if he were in the claws or jaws of a lion. I
picked up my rifle, and raced off as hard as I could run in
the direction whence the cries came. All the men in the
camp either followed me or had gone ahead. I ran about
the hardest I had run for years. Peter had been a good
boy, and to lose that boy through a lion close to my tent
51 E 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
in the middle of the day seemed altogether too bad. I went
about 300 yards, when I saw a crowd of my men gather, and
amongst them Peter sitting on the head of a large buck (Cobus
cob). When going down to the pool to fetch water he had
come upon this buck, which had been wounded on the previous
day. He had chased it, flung a large stone at its head, stunned
it and brought it to the ground, and then, bravely sitting on
its head, yelled for dear life. I hardly know whether disgust
"then he yelled for dear life!"
at the stupidity of the boy, or satisfaction that he was not
being killed by a lion, was uppermost in my mind.
After all I think I was glad that Peter had escaped the lion.
" Then I trekked again to the roUing plain, and I said to my hunter, Lee :
' I long for the brunt of a lion hunt," and he winked his eye, did he.
And by half-past four I heard a roar of such a leonine stamp,
That by four forty-five I managed to arrive more dead than alive in camp.
And since that day I am bound to say that that camp I never stray from ;
J"or a lion, you see, I have heard from Lee, is a beast to run away from."
52
CHAPTER V.
On the Bosom of the Benue.
Farewell — Dangana, the Factotum— Peter — Carriers — Ur. Barth— Garua —
Imperial German Government Methods.
Slowly the yellow flood surged westward, as we said good-
bye at Dempar on February i6th, and I commenced my trans-
African journey in earnest, going up the Benue, and thence
CHIEF AND ELDERS AT DEMPAR.
by way of the Shari, to reach, in God's own time, the Nile.
My five headmen had said farewell to their wives, who in
vain tried to hide their tears, and the missionaries waved
53
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
their farewell, as our eight polers drove the steel boat
slowly up the current. Our barge being covered by a heavy
sun-roof and awning, was top-heavy and required careful
handling. The tornadoes that sweep dov\n the Benue valley
at this time of the year have brought disaster to manv canoes
and barges before. We therefore took good care to hide
behind high banks as soon as the sky became overclouded.
BARGE ON THE BENUE.
I had carefully chosen seven of my best men to accompany
me, and intended to use these as personal servants and as
headmen. Their names were : —
1. IsA (Jesus), who, while small in stature, w^as a powerful
headman, a magnificent wrestler, a man of con-
siderable will-power, and exceptionally intelligent
for an African.
2. GiWA (the elephant), a tall, broad-shouldered, bull-
necked Hausa, wdio, at a pinch, could take four
men's loads on his head.
54
PETER AND DANGANA, BOYS WHO ACCOMPANIED THE WRITER FROM
THE NIGER TO THE NILE.
On the Bosom of the Benue.
3. Audu-Abuja (commonly known as " Dorina," the
hippopotamus), who was as much at home in the
water as on land. I know not how many times he
swam across the Kotto River.
4. BiGiLA (the bugler), a very strong and willing man,
but a thief, suffering from kleptom.ania. He had
to be punished once or twice on the road. As long
as there was nothing to steal he was one of the most
useful men I ever had.
5. MuSA (Moses). He was the oldest man and was a
very good taxidermist, who prepared quite a number
of heads and skins for me.
Besides these five headmen, I took Dangana m}^ cook,
steward and general factotum. To say that he was faithful,
trustworthy and intelligent for an African is to say very little.
He was far more than that. I could trust him with important
messages to native chiefs, and lie would unostentatiously secure
their respect for himself and the caravan. I sent him from Fort
Archambault to Milfi in Bagirmi, some eight days' journey, to
purchase 25 pack-oxen and several horses, and he executed his
commission in a speedy and very creditable way. He was a good
shot, and I took him with me repeatedly when hunting dangerous
game. If anything was stolen he was the man to ferret out the
thief in no time. He could beat everybody in wrestling except
the headman, was a good rider, and a splendid cook, whose
pancakes and mayonnaise one remembers even here in Europe.
And last, but by no means least of m3^ seven stalwarts, was
Peter, the small boy, but latterly the big boy, whose smihng,
ugly face and cheerful sing-song as we travelled along the
road, with occasional pokes of fun at the carriers who lagged
behind, was as useful as it was cheerful. I had taken Peter
over from the C.M.S.
Having this set of men to fall back upon, it is easily under-
stood that many difficulties vanished that might otherwise
57
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
have interrupted my journey or brought it to an untimely
end.
Two districts which were of special interest to me were the
Djen district and the ^I'bula district. At both of these places
the pagan population is massed together, and especially in
the M'bula district the villages on the bank followed one another
without any open space between, thus forming a continuous
58
On the Bosom of the Benue.
town of from five to six miles in length. This is the most
densely populated part of the Benue valley.
Shortly after, on Saturday, March 13th, we arrived at Yola.
The reception afforded to me by the representatives of the
Government there, as well as b}' the officials of the Niger
Company, was of the friendliest. The Resident of the Yola
Province expressed his sincerest hope that I might not be
eaten by the cannibals, especially as I did not intend to take
an armed escort with me.
4
\\ ■''
H*
^P
y
i^^
^
0 \^'
:-^^^|
COOKING LUNCHEON FOR THE MEN ON THE BANKS OF THE BENUE.
On Monday afternoon, March 15th, Mr. Hosking and I
attempted to penetrate further up the Benue, and gQ.t, if
possible, to Garua. But after spending the better part of
Tuesday morning in pulling the boat over sand banks, and
digging out channels for it, we found it an impossible task,
and I therefore decided to run back to Yola in the afternoon,
engage carriers, and begin my overland march. With the
assistance of the Niger Company some 55 carriers were en-
gaged, and an exceptionally strong horse secured, which I
thought would have carried me right across Africa ; but we
had to bury it at Fort Archambault.
59
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Two other horses which I had ridden through Northern
Nigeria I had left behind in the Miiri Province, and on Wednes-
day, March 17th, at 6.30 a.m., my caravan started from the
north bank of the Benue, opposite Yola, into the hills of
Adamawa.
A clear, bright, sunny morning augured success for the
expedition ; the carriers went at a lialf-trot ; the horse I
rode was in excellent condition. My heart went out in
gratitude to God for be-
ing allowed to make so
favourable a start, re-
membering how, 50 years
ago, Dr. Barth (the first
white man to visit Yola)
had crept out of the town
sick in body and sick at
heart, driven from the
gates by the order of the
Sultan ; and as I thought
of the difficulties Mizon,
Von Vechtritz, Passarge,
and the early representa-
tives of the Niger Com-
pany had encountered at
Yola, I could not but
be gratified with the wonderful change which had been
effected.
Our first day's march was a short one of 12 miles. Certain
loads had to be re-arranged, and the men got into the
way of marching together.
I had 55 carriers divided into sections of 10, each under
a kind of sub-headman. With the headmen, Dangana, Peter,
and one or two women belonging to the carriers, my caravan
amounted to 70 souls. As this is not a diary I will not repeat
60
&:*satM:l
HAUSA BEAUTIES.
On the Bosom of the Benue.
various incidents as they happened day by day, but just give
you, if I can, a short " apercu " of my journey through
Adamawa.
At mid-day on the third day after leaving Yola, I crossed
the frontier and entered German territory. A native cleric
who acts as Customs official reminded me of the crisp mili-
tarism of the Fatherland. He was very respectful, spoke
English, German and Fulatanchi, provided us with good housing
and good native food, and was generally useful. Two days
later I entered Garua, the Government centre of German
Adamawa. Both the captain in command and the lieutenant
were absent on patrol, and the medical man acted as Resi-
dent. He, with a secretary to the Administration and two
non-commissioned officers, occupied the fort. A hundred
native soldiers act as a garrison ; they are drilled after the
German fashion, but in pigeon English I was told that m}'
German friends do not desire their " boys " to knew German,
so that these may be unable to follow their conversation.
The only word I found well known amongst the boys at
Garua was " Jawohl," a glorified "yes." To hear this word
flung at you at the end of a conversation in pigeon English,
in the most military German fashion, is at first somewhat
startling.
The one thing at Garua which astonished me greatly was
the successful way in which vegetables, flowers, shrubs and
trees were grown at the Government station on the most
modern, scientific lines, and yet one might have expected
it. Several ploughs are in continual use. A European
gardener has laid out magnificent flower-beds and shrubberies
in front of the fort, and a large number of valuable forest
trees are raised in a nursery.
There are roads lo yards wide from Garua to the coast
(600 miles), and to the Logone (250 miles), well graded roads
with bridges across the smaller rivers, and " drifts " through
63
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
the larger ones. A wagon traffic has been commenced on
these roads, and there is no reason why motor cars should
not run on them.
There is a Government school, a hospital and a dispensary
at Garua, all free for the natives. These are very good and
useful paternal institutions. The school, primarily a Freed
Slaves' Home, is supported, wonderful to relate, by the
Mohammedan Fulani chiefs (the Lamidoes). x\ll this is most
GATHERING OF MEN AT GARUA.
excellent and satisfactory, but there are two points in which
the German Government of Adamawa is making serious
mistakes. The first is the general employment of forced
labour. There are hundreds of natives who get neither pay
nor rations employed in strengthening the fort at Garua,
and there are thousands of natives working on the roads.
All these labourers are slaves sent by the various chiefs to
64
On the Bosom of the Benue.
work off the taxes the tribes should pay. The half-starved
skin-and-bone bodies of these workmen are a lamentable
sight. The roads running through the country are splendid,
but the forced labour employed in making them has
depopulated both sides of them. The people have run
away into the bush. For five days on the road from Garua
to Marua I have counted a dozen villages in ruins. This is
not good policy.
The second point is the extension of the Mohammedan faith
through the action of the Government. In the Freed Slaves'
Home school in Garua, the children, all of them originally
pagan, are led every Friday to the mosque, but Christian
missionaries have thus far been discouraged from settling at
Garua.
These criticisms are not made in a cavilling spirit, but it is
the duty of every pioneer of civilisation to point out any
direction in which he may believe improvement possible, so
as to " uphold the integrity and humanity of ideals of which
the Christian civilised nations of Europe are so justly proud."
6s
CHAPTER VI.
March through the Mountains of Adamawa.
The Caravan — Malam Gidar — Lombel — Tribes — Lam Pagans — The Chief
City in the Chad Region — Welcome — The Chief of Marua — Diminutive
Mutiny — Presents from Chiefs — Musgun Pagans — Musgun — Disfigured
Women — Morno — Last German Outpost — The White Man's Rule —
Coins.
After a few days of careful preparation I left Garua on
March 26th at dawn. The carriers, practically all of them
Hausas, with just a few Fulanis, were early on the spot. My
caravan consisted at this time of
1 chief.
5 head carriers.
50 carriers.
3 boys.
3 soldiers.
2 women.
5 camp followers
69 people.
After a six miles' march we rested where the road ran through
a ditch. Kilometre stones, painted white with black figures
on them, marked the distances along this splendid highway.
The road runs from the coast to Garua, and from Garua to
the Logone, with a regular boat service down to Kusseri
and Lake Chad. We arrived in camp at 10 a.m. Some half-
a-dozen huts and a large sun-shelter formed the rest-house
which the German Government had built. These things are
all well arranged, and the only regret is that the carriers do
66
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March through the Mountains of Adamawa.
not seem to be sufficiently considered. Everything is simply
for the convenience of the white man.
The first camp is some two or three miles from a village
called Tshebagge. The spot is known as Pitoa Camp, Next
day we went another 9 kilometres to a camp called Malam
Gidar. I found serious difficulties in securing food for the
men, as no people live near the road. There are a number
of ruined villages, and practically all the people have run
away into the bush. They had been impressed to build a
road, and were then depended upon to supply food to caravans
that might come along, sometimes for payment, sometimes
without. We spent Sunday at Malam Gidar, the men lying
about asleep for most of the time. Then on Monday we went
on to the next rest-houses at Baletun. A number of streams
which we crossed all ran from north-west to south-east in the
direction of Benue. There was no water in these streams
at this time of the year. A certain amount of valuable mineral
deposit I found in two of the brooks. It had, of course, been
known that the Benue carried valuable metal, but none was
aware whence it came.
In the afternoon I managed to pick up a gazelle, and this
gave us a change of diet. On Tuesday, March 30th, we
camped at Lombel, just beyond a large village going under the
name of Golombe. The village is a little way off the road.
There is a toll clerk stationed at Golombe, as a considerable
trade is carried on between the French Shari-Chad Protec-
torate and German Adamawa, Lombel had been a Fulani
village in former years, but after the road was built the Fulanis
had gone away, and we found it a Hausa colony. About a
dozen men with their families had settled down, built their
huts, cultivated the ground a little, and were carrying on a
flourishing trade at the cross roads. They showed them-
selves most friendly, and provided a good deal of food. The
first town through which the high road goes is the Fulani
69
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
town of Gidar, which we reached on the following day. Its
chief is an independent gentleman who seems to have been
somewhat spoiled. Here we left the main road, which con-
tinues to Binder-Bongo on the Logone. I intended to go
via Matafal to Marua, but for some reason or other we lost
our way and arrived about 2 p.m: the next day amongst the
Lam pagans in the hills. These people were at first very
much frightened, as a German punitive expedition had been
sent against them a little while before, and all white men
looking alike might be enemies ; but after I had distributed
a few handfuls of beads they became more friendly, and in
the end brought us food, for which I gave them cloth and
beads.
European Government Officials stationed in Adamawa,
April, 1909.
Garua ... One Captain, one Lieutenant, one Doctor, one Secretary
and two N.C.O's.
Bongo ... One Non-commissioned Officer.
Maniling... One ditto ditto.
DiKOA ... One ditto ditto.
KUSSERI ... One Captain, one Lieutenant, one Doctor, two N.C.O's.
Altogether 14 white men.
Besides these there are two German traders and the repre-
sentative of the Niger Company at Garua, a total of 17 white
men.
The most important pagan tribes of Adamawa are the
following : —
I. Rei-Buba people, probably numbering 200,000 or
300,000 souls. These people fought Dr. Passarge
and turned him back. They were brought into sub-
jection by 15 German native soldiers, who, after
they had fired all their rifle cartridges, succeeded in
frightening the people with their signalling pistols
by throwing rockets.
70
March throuoh the Mountains of Adamawa.
2. The Lam Pagans, the people we were now amongst.
3. The Tangele, inhabiting the Mandara Mountains
north of Garua.
4. The MusGUN, a most important tribe living on both
banks of the Logone, and between that river and
the Shari. Amongst these Musguns I noticed for
the first time the central African thro wing-iron,
which is called by them " shue," and by the Bagirmi
people " njiga." This thro wing-iron has the shape
of an Australian boomerang, and I have been told
by the Musgun that they know how to throw it,
so that it returns to the hand of the thrower if it
misses its mark.
The Lam pagans are absolutely naked except for a weird
loin-cloth of plaited grass. They are shy but friendly. Their
villages are situated at the foot of little rocky hills distributed
over the plain. The compounds are not built together, but
are placed here and there and anywhere amongst the rocks.
Their country is divided into 17 districts, as follows : —
VILLAGES OF THE LAM PAGANS.
Pillem.
Gilfi.
Lelang.
Gurmui.
Jibu.
Mambaja.
Garnaha.
Bajaba.
1 7. Mulwa.
9-
Lap.
10.
Mussurutuk
II.
Muda.
12.
LuUu.
13-
Wussol.
14.
Barama.
15-
Gollom.
16.
Ndukla.
Each district has its own chief, and over all they have their
head chief.
We camped on Thursday, April ist, under a large shade
tree close to the compound of the great chief of the Lam
71
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan,
pagans. I had taken the precaution of keeping all my men
close together, and had appointed two of my headmen to
act as policemen and see that none of the carriers visited the
native compounds, as I did not want to have any trouble
with the inhabitants.
All the next day we travelled through the land of the
heathen. The mid-day rest we spent in a place called Mut
(the Arabic for death). The district chief waited for me half
an hour from his hut and accompanied me to our resting-place,
having provided 30 pots of water and a large amount of food.
His people seemed most anxious to please, and were in their
turn greatly delighted with some pieces of Indian coloured
cloth which 1 handed to the chief. Just before sunset we
arrived at a village called Laff. This was only a little place
ruled over by a boy as chief.
We had the last Lam village on our left next morning after
a two hours' march from Laff. At 10 a.m. we were at Jagan,
one of the outlying villages of Marua, where we rested for the
middle of the day, and left late in the afternoon. Travelling
that evening was accompanied by certain discomforts, as a
heavy wind drove the pulverised earth in great dust-clouds
into our faces.
My reception in Marua was very different from what I
expected. The reports I had heard of Marua from residents
in Northern Nigeria, as well as the information gathered at
Garua, led me to think that I might find in Marua an end
to the expedition. I was told that Marua was a very large
town (and what I saw of it exceeded the reports), that all
the restless, fanatical spirits of the surrounding colonies had
sought and found a refuge with its chief ; that- the white
man was hated in the to\\Ti ; that a captain in the German
army had been shot and killed by a poisoned arrow some
time ago at Marua, as he sat in his deck chair after his
evening tub, reading his newspaper, and that there was no
72
March through the Mountains of Adamawa.
German Government official in that town ; in fact, I
was not qnite sure what I might experience there on my
arrival.
I was in a very doubtful frame of mind when I approached
the lights of Marua on Saturday evening, April 3rd. It was
9 p.m. when we entered the dry river bed of a branch of the
Marua River. The moon was not very bright ; the sand
under foot was dry and loose, and the men and horses were
tired after an eight hours' march. Along the hne of carriers
I saw two men on horseback gallop towards me, as I rode
at the end of the caravan to keep the men together, followed
only by my personal boys. The two mounted men were
guides sent by the brother of the chief of Marua to lead me
into the town.
The messenger I had despatched beforehand to announce
my arrival had not found the chief at home, but his brother
had prepared me a welcome. We were approaching the
first compounds of Marua when I rode to the head of my
convoy, led by the two guides, and followed by Dangana
and a German soldier. The five of us trotted into the town.
The streets were narrow lanes fenced in by the high mud-
walls of the compounds. All seem deserted and silent. Once
or twice I noticed men resting round their fires within
sight of our path, when a call from the first guide sent
them scurrying away. The question naturally arose, Why
this precaution ? Does the chief of Marua want to make
sure of us first in the heart of the city before he and
his men show themselves ? Or, does he, by driving all
the people away from my road, try to prevent any lurking
mischief ?
We rode on through the streets 10 minutes, 20 minutes,
half an hour, when suddenly before us lay spread out a large
sheet of water with many men, women and children splashing
about in it, enjoying their evening bath. Some approached
73
From Hausalancl to Egypt, through the Sudan.
timidly, but were warned back by our guides. Certainly
this looked more peaceful. Just at that moment, through
the quiet of the evening, came thundering towards us a con-
siderable bod}/ of horsemen, turbaned men in white flowing
robes and haiks, but I saw no swords, no spears nor guns.
There was to be peace then. The cloud of I-^ulanis surrounded
us, and a powerfully-built man clad in garments of grey and
white silk, mounted on a magnificent stallion, approached
me. We shook hands. He rode in front of me to lead me
to a compound that had been prepared for Europeans. We
crossed the market-place covered with multitudes of sheds,
where the next day I saw about 10,000 people exchanging
their produce.
We had been riding for over an hour through the streets
of jMarua, and were approaching two small hills, when our
leader led us through the open gate of a large compound
and halted under a wide-spreading shady tree. We dis-
mounted, and once more our host extended his hand to me.
The German Fulani soldier interprets : —
" Christian, you are most heartily welcome. The chief
is out of town, but has been sent for immediately on the
arrival of your messenger ; if the chief rides all night he
may be back to-morrow. What can we do for you in the
meantime ? Wood and water have been provided already."
I thanked him and told him I was tired.
" Come and see me to-morrow morning " — a salaam, and
he departed.
The white man's home in Marua consists of two compounds
opening into each other — one for the man, and one for the
horses and cattle.
In the first compound there v/ere twelve huts, and a central
square house for the European ; in the second some eight
huts and several shady trees. The whole looked something
like this : —
74
March through the Mountains of Adamawa.
A few minutes after our arrival, all of us being very tired,
we were soon asleep. Let me continue from my diary : —
6 a.m., Sunday morning. — Some 20 or 30 people have just
arrived with food for the men, and an ox for me. Men and
horses are stif^ after yesterday's hard march. During nine
hours the men had water only once.
7 a.m. — The brother of the chief comes to ask whether he
can serve me in anything. I have sent a present of cloth
— value £5 — to the deputy chief.
8 to II a.m. — Have my quiet time.
II a.m. — A messenger comes from the chief. The chief
has returned. " When can I see him ? " I send my com-
pliments to the chief and tell him to come at sunset.
The day is very hot. The men are toasting themselves
in the sun. I wish I could enjoy the sun as they do.
5 p.m. — Reading with the men.
6 p.m. — The chief comes, preceded b}^ a man to announce
him. He comes alone into my room. At the door are two
German sentinels, whom I have ordered to present arms.
I have Dangana and an interpreter with me.
When the chief takes off the cloth with which he had pre-
viously covered his face I see before me the features of a
strong, just and noble man. They bear the imprint and
the marks of a manly man such as one rarely sees. His
speech is slow and steady. There is no self-assertion nor
hesitation about him. The first signs of good breeding —
stillness of person and feature — one notices immediately.
He is a gentleman, a black gentleman. He tells me he has
been asked b}^ the German Government to take charge of
Mania since the murder of the last white man, and that he
means to be friends with the Europeans. Half an hour's
conversation ends all too soon, and he takes his departure,
shaking hands with me repeatedly. Next morning a good
77
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
fast horse was sent to me as his present, for which I returned
him ^j^ worth of Indian cloth and a few pounds of beads.
I had promised the chief to call on him on Monday evening,
but a terrific tornado made any visit impossible. During
our stay at Marua the men lived in a land of plenty ; they
were never able to eat all the food supplied to them, and
were somewhat loth to leave on Tuesday morning. I had
asked the chief to let me have a guide to Musgun and Mand-
jafa ; but instead of one man, he sent a guard of seven armed
men, four of them on horseback. These men proved most
useful to me, as they spoke the various languages of the
country. Thus, far from Marua having proved dangerous
and troublesome, I had been welcomed there more respectfully
than in any other town or village in Adamawa.
It was on Tuesda3'% April 6th, that we continued our march
from Marua towards Mandjafa. As a result of the rain of the
previous day, the paths were exceedingly muddy, making
travelhng difficult. The country was well- populated. Many
Fulani villages could be seen on both sides. There were
any number of sheep, goats, and cattle grazing. A flock
of white guinea-fowl looked most curious as they fluttered
away from the road.
The men marched very badly and kept on dawdhng, trying
m^y patience sorely. One of the carriers, whose foot had
the guinea-worm in it, was left behind by me at Marua, and
some of his companions were unhappy about it. They did
not know themselves what they wanted. The man was a
Fulani, and therefore at home amongst his Fulani people.
During the afternoon we had a diminutive mutiu}-. This
is the first and only time when things looked as if I might
have trouble. The men had become lazy in Marua. They
had done nothing but eat all day and had double indigestion.
It took me only a few minutes to find out who was their ring-
leader, and next morning when the caravan was ready to start
78
March through the Mountains of Adamawa.
I gave him his conge, and had him escorted by one of mv
German soldiers back to Marua.
Balassa, where we slept the night, was a small town whose
chief had been absent but had come back post-haste to greet
us. His dash (present) consisted of lo fowls, guinea-corn
for the horses, eggs, and flour for the men. A great boon
while travelling through the Fulani country was the quantity
of milk obtainable.
Next day we went from Balassa to Bogo, a walled town
of about 5,000 people on the east bank of the Marua River.
The presents which the good chief brought me were quite
considerable for a chief of a little place like Bogo. He offered
24 chickens and large quantities of food. He also brought
me a cow ; but I sent her back, as it would have been a pity
to kill her, and I could not take her with me.
The following day we only travelled three hours, to the
village of Tshabawol, a place which consisted of a number
of scattered Fulani compounds. We found it difficult to house
our men, as my caravan now numbered about 100 people.
Gingile, where we had intended to spend the night, lies
a few miles to the south.
We had left the last Fulani country and the ]\larua River
and entered the Musgun territor3^ On Friday, i\pril 9th,
after we had gone for a few hours from Tshabawol in the
direction of Gilbidi, the chief of the latter place, with a con-
siderable number of horsemen, came to meet me an hour
from the town. We had a great reception. All things had
been carefully prepared. The chief had cleared and cleaned
out his compound, which he asked me to occupy for the
night. He performed feats of horsemanship for our amuse-
ment, and provided a superabundance of food. Next
to Marua this was the best reception we had thus far
enjoyed.
Between the Fulani country and this first Musgun centre
79
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
there are nine miles of acacia bush. The Musgun houses are
curious fortlike structures, each house or compound con-
sisting of five or six round huts built close together, usually
in a circle, each hut being connected with the other hut, but
only the first and last have a door into the open. These
latter are usually the largest, and their conically-shaped
surfaces are covered with regular protuberances which are
used as ladders in the construction of the building. Some
of them are 20 feet in height. Both walls and roofs are made
of mud. The Musgun country is absolutely flat. The natives
draw their water at this time of the year out of wells, some
of them 30 feet or more in depth.
All next day we saw Musgun hamlets on both sides of our
line of march, the most prominent places being the village of
Muga ; and the largest town of the Musgun — Ngilming —
consisting of a great number of splendid mud giddas (com-
pounds). At this place the ground became swampy. A
number of cob antelope were disporting themselves in the
open plain. A breeze begun to blow from the south and the
sky became overcast. It was an excellent day for marching,
as a few drops of rain had cooled the atmosphere.
At mid-day we reached the banks of the Logone opposite
the town of Musgun. The chief came across to meet us,
and we forded the western branch to an island. The depth
of the water was 2| feet and the width 150 yards. The other
branch of the Logone was much deeper, though its width
was about the same as the western branch. A number of
small dug-outs, each carrying one man and one load, soon
ferried us across, and at 2.30 we reached the well-built (but
now ruined) former Government station. Musgun is a walled
town of about 500 people. Fifteen miles south of Logone
is the village Pis on the eastern bank, and 15 miles south-
west of that the village of Vullum. Gowei, another large
Musgun village, is about 60 miles south-west of Musgun.
80
March through the Mountains of Adamawa.
North of Ngiiming lies Gam j em, and between Pis and Vullum
are the three small villages of Mariafi, Tegele and Vaje.
MUSGUN VILLAGES.
I.
Morno.
17.
Sulet.
2.
Musgun.
18.
Marmai.
3-
Pisgedi (Pis).
19-
Karkai.
4-
Tegele.
20.
Mugu (Muga).
5-
Ngulmung (Ngiiming).
21.
Katawa.
6.
Manda.
22.
Mala.
7-
Matha.
23-
Mariafi.
8.
Mirvidi (Gilbidi).
24.
Balamataba.
9-
Bogo.
25.
Milam.
lO.
Kelef.
26.
Bedem.
II.
Baria.
27.
Luthu.
12.
Muhna.
28.
Gian.
13-
Gaja.
29.
Gamjem.
14.
Dugi.
30.
Vaje.
15-
Govvei.
31-
Maniling.
16.
Marakei (the old
Musgun).
capital of
32.
Vullum.
The Musgun men are magnificent specimens of humanity,
but the women are exceedingly ugly. Their upper and lower
lips are pierced and have large discs of tin, looking-glasses,
or Maria Theresa dollars inserted in them. I rested at this
place on Sunday, April nth, and as the nearest Musgun
village through which we would have to pass — Morno — was
a considerable distance away, I decided to use a part of the
night for our march. We left Musgun, therefore, on Monday
morning at 2.30 a.m., and travelled for two hours north-
east through bushless prairie till 4.45 a.m., when we rested
for half-an-hour by the side of a large pool, inhabited in the
rainy season by hippos. A small jungle growing on the west
bank of this pool looked very gloomy, as clouds had covered
the moon. We continued our journey at 5.15 a.m., and
when it dawned we came upon a herd of Senegambian hartc-
83 G 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
beest. I shot a young buck, the colouring of whose skin was
very light.
At half-past seven the country changed from prairie to park
land, but was absolutely flat. Here and there swampy pools
remained as remnants of the floods of the last rainy season.
IRON BOOMERANG OF MUSGUN (SEE PAGE 71).
At mid-day we reached Momo, after having crossed the
dry bed of a small river running north-east. Momo is a poor
place. The huts are built without any architectural pre-
84
March through the Mountains of Adamawa.
tensions of mud and grass, and are scattered about through
the bush. A number of people from Manihng, who had heard
of our arrival, came out in the afternoon to visit us.
Two hours' marching the next morning saw us at the latter
place, where a German sergeant had drawn up his little body
of police for our reception. The path that morning lay
through a forest of deleb palm with a good deal of water
covering the ground. The sergeant told me that in the rainy
season the path I had come by would be covered by 2 or 3 feet
of water, and as this breeds mosquitoes and disease, nothing
much can be done with the land.
]\Ianiling Station looks tidy and clean, but seems a very
poor sort of a place, hidden away, as it is, in the bush sur-
rounded by swamps. It was here that I said good-bye to
German territory, and looking forward to unexplored regions
ahead, hoped for as successful a march through the French
sphere as that through German Adamawa had proved itself
to be.
Comparisons are odious, but in passing through territories
administered by British, German and French officials, one
could not but notice the differences of administration.
In this all three agree, though the British and German
administrators lay, perhaps, more emphasis upon it than the
French, namely, that the autocratic form of Government
is the most suitable for primitive races. Forced labour has
been largely abolished in the British and French spheres,
but is recognised and employed freely in German Adamawa.
The payments made to natives are high in the British terri-
tory, lower in German, and lowest in the French regions.
In roads and river connections the Germans far excel ; then
come the British, and lastly the French. The French are
most anxious to retain the pagans as pagans, and not let
them become Mohammedan. As a consequence the pagans
in the Shari-Chad Protectorate have the greatest confidence
85
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
in their white administrators. This is not so in German
Adamawa nor in Northern Nigeria, where the intelhgent and
half-civihsed Moslem has secured considerable prestige, and
is in many cases preferred by the Government official to the
naked bush pagan. As a consequence the French have had
more trouble with the Moslems, and the Germans and British
more trouble with the pagans in their respective territories.
English coinage is now commonly used in Nigeria, and
Egyptian coinage in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ; while in
Adamawa and the Shari-Chad Protectorate the Maria Theresa
dollar is still the favourite coin of the native trader.
Road Distances from Garua to Mandjafa.
I.
2.
3-
4-
5-
6.
7-
8.
9-
lO.
II.
12.
13-
14.
15-
16.
17-
18.
19.
Garua
Dolere
Uro-Malam-Gida
Lominge
Lombel
Gidar
Lam
Midjifin
Kilgin
Mindif
Marua
Balassa
Bogo
Gigile
Gilbidi
Musgun
Morno
Maniling
Mandjafa
4 hours
3 hours
4 hours
5 hours
5 hours
8 hours
4 hours
4 hours
5 hours
4 hours
3 hours
3 hours
3 hours
2 hours
5 hours
6 hours
2 hours
2 hours
(Actual route taken.)
Mutu-Rua
Lafif
Jag an
Marua
3 hours
5 hours
3 hours
CHAPTER VII.
On the Shari.
Half-Castes — Crossing the Shari — The Bagirmi Country — My Interpreter a
Failure — Canoeing — Even the Women Pray ! — Hippos — Busso — A
French Native Official — Chad — The Borderland — Modern Vandalism —
Dumraou — Mouth of Bahr-es-Salamat.
Adamawa lay behind us with its growing number of cafc-
au-lait children, half-castes of Arab and negro, European
and native.
A few years ago I was staying in Germantown, Phila-
delphia, U.S.A., in a house where a lady of dusky complexion
waited at table. She was referred to by a member of the
household as " our black servant," when, without warning,
she suddenly flared up, maintaining most stoutly that she
was not black. In this she certainly was right, for her colour
was cafc-au-lait. To smooth matters out the master of the
house corrected the mistake and called her " coloured."
But this was worse than ever. " Coloured ! " she exclaimed,
highly displeased, " Coloured ! I am not coloured. I was
born so." Poor thing, she was neither black nor white.
Children of whom the father is white and the mother a
negress are always denationalised. They are not Africans,
but neither do they belong to the white race, and so cannot
enjoy the white man's prestige. They have often the vices
of both and the virtues of neither. There are an exceptional
number of these half-castes in Adamawa, more than in the
Shari-Chad Protectorate or in Northern Nigeria. For Euro-
peans to keep a native woman is deprecated in Northern
S7
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Nigeria ; it is not the usual thing in the Shari-Chad Pro-
tectorate, but it is the rule in Adamawa.
The inter-marriage of the Arab and the negro also produces
unsatisfactory results. Their offspring combine the drunken-
ness of the negro and the immorality and fanaticism of the
Arab, without the saving quahties of either, viz., the confi-
dence and childlikeness of the negro and the nobility and
hospitality of the Arab. The half-caste Eurasian problem
•1
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mW^
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m
FISHERBOATS ON THE SHARI.
in India is a serious one ; the half-caste Eurafrican problem
in Africa, I am afraid, will be even more serious in the future.
On Wednesday, April 14th, we reached the bank of the
Shari. After leaving Maniling, the last Musgun town, our
way lay for 20 minutes through a mimosa wood, then for
an hour through a splendid gallery-forest full of animal life,
and the last 10 minutes through tall swamp grass. The path
at this time of the year was dry, but must be almost
On the Shari,
impassable during the rains. Tlie main road from Marua to
Bagirmi does not lead through the Musgun territory, as this
whole country is one vast swamp in the summer months.
We surmounted the last ridge, where a few royal palms
stood as lonely sentinels on the right ; and then the wide,
limpid, clear stream of the Shari lay before our eyes.
Several revolver shots called a large boat to our side of
the river, and the crossing began. At 8 a.m. we were all
SULTAN GAURANG OF BAGIRMI.
on the other side. The chief of Mandjafa had come down
with his people to the edge of the water to welcome us. Shouts
of rejoicing and luluing of women greeted us from the com-
pounds built on the edge of a high bank of the river. Our
reception was like a triumphal entry ; the whole town had
turned out.
So far so good ; but now the transport problem appeared
once more. In Central African travelling transport is a
From Hausaland to Egypt, throuoh the Sudan.
thing that Hves on patience. It always generates worry,
and worry is not good for one's nerves. I knew that there
was a fleet of some 25 steel canoes on the Shari, but of their
whereabouts I was ignorant. In Mandjafa only one large,
leaky, wooden boat could be found, but I was told we might
obtain another from a neighbouring town. By sending my
horses and carriers to march along the bank I thought two
SULTAN GAURAXG CALLING ON THE FRKNCH GO\EKNOR.
canoes might be sufficient to carry us to the mouth of the Auka-
Debbe or to Fort Archambault.
During my stay in Mandjafa I lived in a very good com-
pound containing a number of huts for the men, and room
enough to pitch the tent and build a sun shelter. I sent the
chief his presents, and having paid off a number of my carriers
who wanted to return from here to the Benue, I " sat down,"
in local parlance, to wait for the arrival of my second boat.
90
On the Shari.
Mandjafa belongs to the Sultan Gaurang of Bagirmi, and
Bagirmi is fanatically Mohammedan. The respectful atten-
tion of the pagans is conspicuous by its absence. The banks
of the Shari in this region form an example of what has taken
place, and is taking place in other parts of the Sudan. The
pagans have been harassed by the Moslem slave raiders and
have withdrawn themselves out of reach into the swamps, so
OFFICER COMMANDING TROOPS OF SULTAN OF BAGIRMI.
that the east bank of the Shari inhabited by the Mohammedans
is alive with people ; while the west bank, where formerly
the pagans lived, is an unpeopled wilderness, a home for
large herds of game. The Shari River has at this time of
the year as much, if not more, water than the Benue ; but
the deep, stagnant pools of the lower Benue are not found
in the Shari. During my time of waiting at Mandjafa I went
over to the German side of the river for meat, and brought
home five water-buck and a harnessed antelope.
91
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Two days and a-half we had to spend at Mandjafa until our
canoes were ready, caulked, floored with dry sticks and grass
mats, and provided with a sun shelter over the central part. This
sun shelter was some 5 feet in height, made of thin sticks, covered
first with grass mats and then with my waterproof sheets.
On Saturday, April 17th, we began our up-river journey.
The horses and most of my men went along the river bank,
and only my personal boys and a couple of headmen accom-
A POWOVV ON THE SHARI.
panied me in the boats. A new acquisition, " Osman, the
interpreter," sat in front of me. Osman had hanging around
him some 30 or 40 layas (charms). He had behind him a
very chequered career. Having run away from Northern
Nigeria, where he belonged to the Northern Nigerian Regi-
ment, he had enlisted as a French Guard in the Shari-Chad
Protectorate, got his dismissal, and then entered the services
of the chief of Mandjafa as interpreter.
He had come to ask whether he might accompany me to
92
On the Shari.
the Nile on his way to Mecca, and after some hesitation I had
agreed. He informed me that he knew English, French,
Arabic, Hausa, Fulatanchi and Bagirmi, and was altogether
a very learned man. Alas for his pretensions ! I soon found
to my disgust that he could speak not one sohtary language
properly. True, he knew a few words in each of them, but
when I wanted to have things translated correctly he was an
utter failure, and the confusion he made can be better imagined
than described. When he translated for me in Ndele I had
to pull him up at every second word, so that the Chief Sinussi
at last suggested that I had better speak to him in my Arabic,
as he understood that better than the Arabic of Osman.
My two canoes were propelled by nine polers each — five in
front and four behind. The men kept up a continuous
chatter, but worked well. Five hours' hard poling brought
us to a small Bagirmi village called And] a, where we spent
the night. All along the bank flowering acacias with bright
yellow clusters of bloom gave the forest a park-hke appear-
ance. There were clouds and wind during the evening and
the night, but no rain. I slept in the village under a grass
shelter that had been prepared for me by the people. Next
morning my men were slow in starting, but once they got
on the move they worked well. They poled for seven hours
and only rested twice during that time to take their food.
The lack of vegetables in the Shari valley makes itself
much felt to the European traveller. There seems no reason
why sweet potatoes, yams, manioc, paw-paws, onions, beans
and other native vegetables should not be grown largely by
the people. Milk is plentiful, and of eggs there are a few.
To follow my progress from village to village would be
tedious to the reader, so I will limit myself to giving the names
of the most important villages on the east bank where we
spent the nights or rested at noon-day. These were Onko,
a small village ; Tideng, a large village ; Balingeri, about
93
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
seven miles from Tideng, Gole, Mondo, Baingana, Woi,
Mabaling, and Labana, a large village.
Our welcome in the villages usually left nothing to be
desired. The Bagirmi people, dressed in their blue Bornu
tobes, are a very religious people ; even the women pray.
Many of them go on pilgrimage to Mecca.
It had become known on the Shari that I intended to go
across country to the Nile, and not a few religious enthusiasts
came to ask whether they might accompany me on their
way to Mecca as far as Egypt. They are a mixture of the
Hamitic and Bantu races. They had flat noses and fairly
thick lips like the Bantus, but the women wear their hair
in the style of the Sphinx like the Fulani.
The sandbanks which appeared everywhere in the river
were alive with teal, duck and spur-winged geese. Reed-
buck and duiker afforded now and then a welcome change
of diet. Some six or eight shoals of hippos we noticed during
these days, one or two of them of, at least, 20 head. Three
distinct species of crocodiles lived in the deeper pools in
perfect amit}^ with the hippos.*
The quiet days on the Shari were perhaps the easiest and
happiest of my whole trans- African journey. The much-
needed exercise I used to get in providing my larder with
meat through the chase produced a thoroughly healthy
appetite ; the shady, wild fig-trees on the banks or the roof
shelter of the canoes shielded me from the sun. Frequent
showers cooled the atmosphere without spoiling my pro-
perty, which was safely protected by waterproof sheeting.
And should I be caught in the rain while hunting, well, a
rain bath had also its delights. The natives were friendly,
my boys were content, everything looked bright.
On Saturday, April 24th, we ran ashore at Busso. This
is a considerable town with a market and a Government
* Fide Appendix C.
94
On the Shari.
Station. The latter is well laid out, a number of fruit trees
having been planted ; and a flourishing vegetable garden
is a great boon to the traveller. I had salad for the first
time since leaving England six months before. Five Sene-
galese tirailleurs under a native Commandant represented
the Government and controlled the river and the cross roads
which meet here.
...(&» ,._j^.«(*.
A DUG-OUT CANOE ON THE SHARI.
I had intended to change my polers at this place, but I
found the greatest difficulty in getting the native sergeant
to move. I knew the chief of the town was friendly, so that
the sergeant would have no difficulty in securing the men.
On the evening of the first day I asked whether men had
been found. I was told they had all been in the fields during
the day, and that therefore none had been procured yet,
but would be on the morrow.
95
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
The second day came, but no polers ! They had " all
run away into the bush " — a flagrant untruth, as I had seen
all the people m the village. I insisted that there must be
i8 men willing to work for me two or three days for " heavy "
pay, such as silver dollars, silver bangles, beads, knives, cloth,
looking-glasses, etc. But my arguments made no difference.
The third day came. Mons. le Sergeant informed me
pompously that he had now sent two soldiers to a large town
in the neighbourhood to secure 30 men, so that I might choose
18 out of them. " When would these polers arrive ? " "Oh,
the next day, or, if not then, the day following."
On the fourth day I went out shooting to secure meat.
No polers came. By the fifth day my stock of patience was
getting exhausted, and my conversation with the commandant,
which had been warm and friendly, fell to freezing point.
On the sixth day I was obliged to draw upon my reserve
stock of patience, for still no polers arrived. The seventh
day — I will desist from describing, but I can assure the reader
that no bad language escaped my lips.
On the tenth day he at last condescended to secure me
polers, but then he made me pay for them in advance twice
as much as any trader or Government official would pay ;
and when I offered him French money, which is the coin of
the realmi in the Shari-Chad Protectorate, he refused it and
wanted Maria Theresa dollars, of which I did not happen to
have a supply at that time. He had received valuable pre-
sents from me on my arrival, and his behaviour could go
under no other classification than " sponging." In the end
my patience gave out, and I told him that I would report
him. This I did, and I afterwards learnt that he had been
removed from his position and degraded to the ranks.
It was at Busso that I gathered a good deal of information
from the natives about the river connections in the Bagirmi
country and around Lake Chad. Native tradition says
96
On the Shari.
that Lake Chad rises and falls every 70 years, that 1906 was
the lowest fall, and that the lake has begun to rise again.
The difference in pay given to the natives between the
British, German and French Governments is very consider-
able. Roughly speaking it amounts to the following : —
Traders' pay. Government pay.
English (per day,
Nigeria)
IS.
9d.
German ( „
Adamawa)
Sopfgs. =
35 P%s. =
6d.
4id.
French ( „
Shari-Chad
Protec- 50 centimes
40 centimes
torate)
= 5d.
= 4d.
May had come, and with it the rainy season, and I became
more and more anxious to press on. On May 4th I left Busso,
and camped that night on a sandbank near a Fulani village.
The Fulanis come down with their large herds of cattle to
the river in the dry season, whilst in the rains the}^ return
to the upland.
A village called Mirte is marked on most maps as an im-
portant place, but actually counts only three huts. At 4 p.m.
a heavy thunderstorm gave me a sound drenching while I
was out in the vain hope of securing ducks for supper. Large
numbers of hippo disported themselves in the deeper pools. I
had given up shooting at them, as even in case one was killed
the stream would carry the carcase away before it could
rise to the surface. At 3.30 we halted for the day at a Kribi
village called Medjem. Busso had been the last Bagirmi
town, and we were now entering the borderland between
the pagans and the Moslems. The Kribi are half-pagan
and half-Mohammedan, and live interspersed with cattle
Fulanis.
The Shari River, unlike the Benue, is not fordable at this
time of the year. It is at least as wide and much deeper
than the latter.
97 H
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
In the afternoon we again made our camp with Fulanis
on a sandbank, and were glad to find these, as we were
always sure of securing fresh milk and usually chickens and
sheep at their encampments. The Fulanis are commonly
known in the country as Arabs, and indeed most of them
in the Shari Valley speak Arabic. They are probably of a
similar origin as the Bedauje, Bishareen and Hadendowa
of the Nile Valley, and belong to the Hamitic branch of the
human family.
FULANI VILLAGE ON THE SHARL
On Friday, May 7th, we came to Miltu, a French Govern-
ment post, formerly German, handed over by the Boundary
Commission to the French. A number of Kribi villages
which go here under the name of Miltu villages — the Miltu
and the Kribi languages are almost the same — are situated
around the military Government post.
The sergeant in charge of Miltu was a Frenchman from
On the Shari.
Corsica. He had a good deal of patience with my French,
which was desperately rusty, not having been used for years.
The good Corse was, at the time of my arrival, busily engaged
in rebuilding the station, which had been burned by the
German N.C.O. before he left. There seemed to be no justi-
fication for such an action, as the buildings had been con-
structed by native forced labour, and it simply meant that the
natives would have to construct the same buildings twice
over. It looked too much as if the Africans were there for
the Administrators, and not the Administrators for the
Africans. What was the sense in burning down a supposed
centre of civilisation, before handing it over to another civilised
Power ? It seemed to me that only two reasons could account
for it, either vandalism or malice, or was it thoughtlessness ?
On May loth I left Miltu, and arrived on the same day at
another French Government post on the east bank of the
Shari called Dumraou. Dumraou is a well-appointed station
with good houses, but very unhealthy. It has a sergeant in
charge. Two other sergeants — or, as they are called here,
adjutants — arrived during the evening from Fort Lamy on
their way home. The sergeant at Dumraou is married to a
native young lady, who seems to have the rule in the house,
and for the first time I saw a white man turned out of his easy
chair by a coloured girl, who appropriated it with the greatest
nonchalance, and Mons. le Sergeant seemed quite satisfied
with the footstool.
We left Dumraou again the next morning, Tuesday, May
nth, and poling all day arrived at the village of Kuno in
the Nilim hills. We camped on a sandbank in the middle
of the river, and while there noticed two distinct kinds of
crocodiles lying close together, the grey kind, and another
of lighter colour with six or seven dark rings around its body.
I endeavoured to shoot one of them, but they decamped
before I got near.
99 H 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
The Nihm Hills, which we passed the next morning, were
some 700 feet in height, and the whole range, about five miles
long, runs parallel' with the stream. These were the first hills
I had seen since leaving the Lam country.
During the evening we came to a village called Melum
on the east bank, where I killed four Cobus cob — three in the
evening and one in the morning before starting — so that
the boys had plenty of good food, and rejoiced in their
abundance of meat. As long as Africans are well fed they
are good-tempered and willing.
On Thursday, May 13th, at mid-day, we passed the mouth
of the Bahr-es-Salamaat. Just beyond it the Shari breaks
its way through heavy barricades of granite (syenite) rocks,
similar to those of the first cataract on the Nile, which are
called by Prof. Link " woolsacks." For 2 J hours we poled
in and out among these barriers, while a heavy thunderstorm
passed over us, and a dark forest of exceptionally tall trees
hedged us in.
During the dav I suffered a good deal from headache,
which I attributed to a moonstroke. The unusual brightness
of the moon woke me up several times during the night.
We had now gone beyond the border of Islam, and come
to the uninhabited country which the ogre of Africa, the
slave raider, has drawn around his domains. Two days
through this country, and on Saturday, May 15th, we were
at Fort Archambault.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Ultima Thule of European Civilisation in Africa.
Fort Archambault — The Heart of the Continent — Agricultural Implements —
Naked Pagans — Burial — Two Months at a French Fort — Problems
Ahead !
Two sergeants and the French store-keeper, Mons. W. Esterhn,
were waiting for me on the beach as my canoes arrived at
Fort Archambault. This place will be in the future for the
FORT ARCHAMB.\ULT.
Shari what Ibi is for the Benue, just as Fort Lamy is for the
Shari-Chad Protectorate, what Lokoja is for Nigeria. Fort
Archambault has a wall, a moat and enfiladed gates.
UNIVERSITY CF GALIFCiti
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
A lieutenant, two non-commissioned officers, and a Govern-
ment agent, besides 30 or 40 tirailleurs, are in charge. They
have laid out three well-kept gardens, have built three mag-
nificent rest-houses — each of them a three-roomed bungalow
made of burnt brick with a large verandah around it — and
have established a place of refuge for freed slaves.
Half-a-dozen freed slaves' villages, occupied by former
slaves of Rabba (named by the natives " Rabe "), have grown
up round Fort Archambault. Then there is also a consider-
able Bornu village inhabited by fugitives and undesirable
elements that have escaped from British and German Bornu,
and quite a Fulani colony. The Bornu traders have established
a flourishing market opposite the Post, and some hundreds
of people can usually be seen exchanging their wares about
mid-day.
Fort Archambault is called by the natives " Fransambo,"
and is known as such from the Benue to the Nile. I had
heard it spoken about, but had not been able to locate it.
There is a remarkable mixed state of civilisation here from
the absolutely nude to the most ridiculously highly-dressed
specimens of African beauty.
The goods from Tripoli, from Nigeria and the Congo, here
meet the Mecca pilgrims from Timbuctu, who arrive in crowds ;
and the single shy-eyed, wary Hadj who has been to Mecca,
and, like the wandering Jew, seeks his way back to his native
land. A babel of languages greets me as I approach the
market sheds. Arabic and Sara dominate, that is to say,
the language of the Moslem and the language of the pagan
of these regions ; but Hausa is also very common. Beri-
beri is known to most of the Moslem traders. Fulatanchi is,
of course, spoken by the cattle owners, and each of these
languages has again many dialects. The Sara language
includes Korbol, Sango, Nilim, Bagirmi and a number of
other tongues spoken from Busso to Fort Crampel. The
The Ultima Thule of European Civilisation in Africa.
branches of the Sara language are more than dialects, and
should perhaps be called sister languages.
All the pagans here belonging to the family of the Kirdi
people are excellent agriculturists. They use three different
kinds of agricultural implements. The first is a short spade
a foot and a-half long with a wooden handle, and an iron shovel
after this style : —
A CURIOUS AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT.
The natives kneel on the ground while using this spade.
It is the tool for weeding. The second, a small shovel, of
about 4 inches in diameter with a long handle some 7 feet
long, is used to dig shallow holes for the planting of guinea-
corn, maize, and millet. One man digs the hole, and the
other drops the seed and treads the earth down. The third
tool is more complicated. It is also a shovel but with a very
long blade, only the end of which is strengthened with iron.
The wooden part is perforated, and has two long cuts running
the whole length so as to let some of the earth pass through.
The instrument looks something like the illustration on page
105.
10:;
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
This third implement is used by men and women alike to
dig the trenches between the rows of guinea-corn. It is
worked kneeling. I suppose it might be described as a sort
of primitive hand-plough.
SEED SOWING AMONG THE SARA.
Rice and cotton are not grown by the Kirdi, but of all other
cereal farm products of the Central Sudan there is an abund-
ance. They are strong, muscular people, with well-shaped
bodies. The women go about absolutely naked. They are
innocent of shame. Here and there is seen a string of blue
104
The Ultima Thule of European Civilisation in Africa.
beads around the body or the neck, but very rarely ; and
only in places where the Kirdi come often into contact with
the European do they wear a bunch of leaves. They are quite
rich enough to buy clothes, but they despise them. Their
black colour is their dress. " We are clean, we have nothing
to hide," seems to be their thought. The men wear a goat
or antelope skin around their loins, — doch ohne die geschlechts-
organe zu bedecken. Diese Organe verbergen sie in gewandter
^
Y'-'^^y'
' />« '' . ^ !^HHHHHBi
A HAND PLOUGH.
weise hinter den Beinen, und sind doch im Stande schnell zu
marschieren.
During my stay at Joko a murder took place. One brother
killed another with his spear, and the
" Yai-ooh ! "
" Yai-ooh !
the wailing of the women continued all night. On the morrow
a large crowd of men gathered under a shade tree in front
J 05
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
of the dead man's house, and with much beating of tom-
toms and much drinking of pito (millet beer) commenced to
dig the grave in the centre of the hut. Fowls were sacrificed,
and in the afternoon the body, tied up into a sitting posture
was lowered into the hole, which was then filled with earth
and the hut deserted. It will remain deserted until it falls
to pieces. Early next morning three natives went to Fort
Archambault to call upon the white men for vengeance on
PAGANS OF THE SHARI-CHAD PROTECTORATE.
the murderer. A sergeant with lo soldiers was sent, the
murderer captured and condemned to one year's penal servi-
tude. Life is cheap in these regions.
Shea-butter nut trees are very plentiful in the Shari valley.
When the fruit is ripe, the fleshy part, tasting something
like mellow pears, forms good food, and the nut itself yields
a valuable fat. The two months at Fort Archambault were
1 06
The Ultima Thule of European Civilisation in Africa.
a preparation for the more difficult part of the tour that lay
yet ahead. My intercourse with the French Government
officials, who kept passing in a continual stream from Fort
Lamy to Fort Crampel and vice versa, was of the happiest.
They usually stayed a day or two at Fort Archambault, and
reciprocal hospitality, which is the rule amongst the white
men in Central Africa, made time fly and gave me a con-
siderable insight into the methods employed by the French
Government in their very good work in the Shari-Chad
Protectorate.
I wrote home about that time describing my surroundings
in the following way : —
" I am here in the very centre of the Sudan. Representa-
tives of 20 or 30 different tribes and nations of the Sudan
are around me. Arabs and Hausas, Fulanis and Senegalese,
natives from the Congo, from the Niger and the Nile, over-
dressed coast negroes, and absolutely naked savages mingle
in the crowd under the market sheds not a hundred yards
from my door. Twenty years ago Graham Wilmot Brooke
stood at the northernmost point of the Mobangi and looked
towards the Central Sudan, towards the Shari region, but he
had to turn back. The nearest missionaries to me now are
Mr. and Mrs. Burt, at Dempar on the Benue, 500 miles away.
Before me stretches another 1,000 miles till I reach the
Americans on the Sobat, or the C.M.S. at Bor ; and all this
country is not a desert, but a densely-populated, fairly healthy
region. I am glad to be able to say that since leaving Eng-
land I have not had the shghtest touch of fever, Africa
seems to agree with my constitution. We are now in the
rainy season and the evenings are deliciously cool, just fresh
enough to make you feel that a white suit is not quite warm
enough for evening wear.
" I have been compelled to remain at Fort Archambault
for a month. On my arrival I expected to continue my
107
P>om Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
river journey up the Aukdebbe (known to the natives as
Bahr-Auk) after two or three days of rest, but I found, on
carefully investigating the amount of water carried by that
river, that I should not find it navigable until the end of
the rainy season. This meant staying for at least three months
at Fort Archambault. Three months is a long time, and
after due consideration, I reluctantly decided to continue
my journey overland, following the Bahr-Auk as far as
possible.
" Now the difficult problem of transport is once more
before me. The land through which I shall have to pass is
unexplored, and to take carriers from here and send them
back is impracticable. The solution of my difficulty seems
to lie in purchasing a number of oxen to carry my loads.
If the tsetse fly does not kill them I shall, perhaps, get safely
out of the wood. The oxen are expected here to-day or to-
morrow, and after giving them a day of rest I hope to make
a start.
" The next point I shall aim for will be the capital of Sinussi,
12 days from here. I shall stay there three or four days,
and continue towards the Bahr-el-Ghazal to Raja, where
I hope to meet the first English-Egyptian Government official.
Raja is reported to be 22 days from Sinussi. I am looking
forward to the unknown country ahead, wondering what
it will bring me. I know there are plenty of people and vast
herds of elephants in it, but this is about all the information
I have."
108
CHAPTER IX.
The Birth of a New Protectorate.
The French Conquest — Rabba, the Napoleon of the Sudan — Fight with
Slave Raiders — Smuggled Arms — La Bataille — Third Engagement —
The Great Fight — A Decisive Victory.
The conquest of the Central Sudan by the French, the im-
portance of which has hardly been realised in Great Britain,
looks as one reads it, hardly real. In 1898 a French Ex-
pedition, under Captain Breton et, accompanied by several
white men and a number of Senegalese tirailleurs, had gone
down the Shari River to explore those new territories and
take possession of them in the name of France. Rabba,
who had heard of this expedition, sent an army to meet it,
and in the Nilim Hills the little French force was surrounded
by thousands of fanatical Mohammedan savages and cut
up. Only one or two escaped. This was a serious blow to
French prestige, and it was therefore decided in Paris to
punish Rabba.
In the autumn of 1898 three French expeditions were sent
into the Central Sudan, the first starting from Algiers in the
north across the Sahara. For over a year Captain Foureau,
who led this party, was not heard of, but he succeeded in
crossing the great desert and reached the shores of Lake
Chad.
The second expedition, under Gentil, started from the
mouth of the Congo, and, going by way of the French Congo,
the Ubangi and Shari, fought its way through overwhelming
obstacles down towards Lake Chad.
109
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
The third expedition which, under Voulet and Chanoine,
had left St. Louis on the Senegal about the same time, pur-
sued its way through Timbuctu and Zinder towards Lake
Chad. The story of this third expedition is one of wild dreams,
deplorable excesses and disaster. The two leaders seem
to have gone out of their minds. When the doings of this
expedition were reported home, a superior officer was des-
patched to take charge, but on his arrival he was foully
murdered by Voulet and Chanoine, who ordered their troops
to fire on the approaching superior. For some time massa-
cres, rapine and outrages were of a daily occurrence, until
the tirailleurs, satiated with vice, turned their rifles upon
their miserable leaders and shot them. The remnants of
this third party, under Joalland and Meynier, at last reached
the neighbourhood of Lake Chad. Gentil had been attacked
by Rabba, a very serious encoimter had ensued, in which
the small French force was compelled to retreat. Their
w^eakened number seemed incapable of offering effectual
resistance to the well-armed multitude of Rabba, and it
looked as though Gentil's expedition would follow in the
wake of Bretonet, and be annihilated, when suddenly, as it
seemed out of nowhere, appeared Foureau from Algiers and
Joalland and Meynier from the Senegal. They caught Rabba
at Kusseri, defeated him, took Dikoa his capital, liberated
between 200,000 and 300,000 slaves there, followed Rabba's
son, who had escaped into Northern Nigeria, and slew him,
and established peace in the lands of that now fallen Napoleon
of the Central Sudan. This was the beginning of the French
Shari-Chad Protectorate.
But there were several other powerful chiefs who had to
be dealt with, and who endangered the French position.
Fort Lamy, the capital of the Shari-Chad Protectorate, being
some three month's journey from Europe, was, to all intents
and purposes, cut off from adequate European support.
The Birth of a New Protectorate.
Bagirmi had carried on continual slave raids on the middle
Logone. Mgaumdere, situated in the German sphere of
influence, was also doing its best to depopulate the lands of
the Middle Shari by slave raids. In the following we have
the report of Captain Faure about his fight with these slave
raiders on April 20th, 1904 : —
"At 10 o'clock in the morning our little column arrived in
sight of the camp of Bipia. This latter had the form of a
square, the sides of which were about 500 metres long. Tree
trunks, some 20 centimetres in diameter, formed the stockade
around it. Happily, we could command from the high ground,
from which we descended, a good view of the interior. We
noticed the Fulanis washing themselves preparatory to their
morning prayers. They were feeding their horses and cleaning
their clothes in a little brook a few hundred metres from the
camp.
" It was a complete surprise, and we were able to approach to
within 50 metres of the camp, fire several volleys, and then
charge. Our brave little column consisted of 42 National
' Guards ' (raised in the country) and 200 auxiharies. The
resistance was feeble and the camp taken before the enemy had
time to realise the numbers attacking. We took up the pursuit
in various directions. Parties of four went together, and for
two hours chased the slave-raiders. The Fulanis had 300
killed and we took 60 wounded, 172 horses, and a consider-
able number of saddles, blankets, kitchen utensils, spears,
bows, axes, guns, &c., but the lack of transport compelled us
to leave the larger part of this with the natives of ihe country.
Our losses were four wounded guards. The prisoners told
us that the slave raiders, whose chief was Baria, had come from
Ngaumdere. They had only arrived a few days ago, and
numbered about 3,000 men. Unhappily we were unable to
catch the herd of cattle, for that morning the slave raiders
had sent this herd in the easterly direction, and at the first
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
shots the herdsmen drove the cattle towards their own terri-
tory. My soldiers were too desperately tired to be able to
undertake an adequate pursuit. We gave back to the villages
half the horses that had been taken away from them, and the
i8o slaves that had already been captured. A small party of
men returned from the pursuit of the slave raiders a day
or two later with 132 slaves and 45 horses. The total number
of slaves we liberated as the result of this fight was 680. These
were escorted back to their various villages. Some 25 village
chiefs came to me, thanking me for delivering their country
and promising obedience and tribute."
Besides Bagirmi and Ngaumdere, there were Wadai and
Sinussi's territory, Dar Kuti, which were troublesome. During
my stay at Fort Archambault, Wadai fell. The following I
wrote at the time : —
" Wadai has fallen !
" Abesher captured !
" Une grande victoire — vous avez oui la nouvelle ? "
With those words the agent of the French Trading Com-
pany here at Fort Archambault hastened just now up to my
verandah.
" We have beaten Wadai " he exclaimed, smiling all over
his face, greatly pleased with himself for being a Frenchman.
The news astonished me not a little, and I felt, at first,
incredulous. I knew, of course, of the concentration of French
forces in the direction of Wadai. I knew an expedition was
planned, but that the whole fight was over already, that
was news indeed.
Wadai, about the size of Italy, was the last stronghold of
the Mohammedan fanatics in the Central Sudan. Irrecon-
cilable remnants of the Khalifa's forces of Omdurman, of
Rabba of Dikoa, of Fadl-Allah, of the Emir of Sokoto, and
others, had congregated at Wadai. El Sheich Sinussi, from
his headquarters in Borku (acknowledged as the spiritual
The Birth of a New Protectorate.
leader of the people of Wadai) had introduced into the country
by way of Tripoli and Kufra large numbers of modern fire-
arms, Winchesters and Lebels, as well as several cannons.
The army of Wadai was reported to be armed with 8,000 new
repeating rifles.
In 1905, when in Tripoli, while purchasing a gun from an
Italian, I had seen large quantities of cartridges and Winchester
rifles which had been smuggled into the country by Italians
and sold to Sinussi. Everybody in Tripoli seemed to know
about these smuggling operations.
No white man had ever crossed Wadai except Dr. Nachtigal,
the famous German explorer, in 1872, and two Italians
in 1881. No white man had ever travelled the desert high-
road from Abesher (the capital of Wadai) to the Mediterranean.
A number of explorers had tried their hands at Wadai, some
had been killed, and others barely escaped with their lives,
till Europeans began to be afraid to touch that hotbed of
Moslem fanaticism. Fort Lamy on the Lower Shari, whence
the Wadai Expedition was organised, is at " the end of all
things " with regard to the white man's civilisation, more
than three month's journey from Europe.
What could a few French officers and three or four hundred
Senegalese soldiers attempt against the many thousands of
desperate Mohammedan fanatics ? But these were the same
troups that had broken Rabba, that had fought for years
their way into and through the robber tribes of the Sahara.
They were all of them audacious and dangerously well-trained
men, with a large share of the French " elan," so important
a factor in the victories of Buonaparte 100 years ago. What
they could do and have done will be seen from the following
short apercu of the Wadai war.
In April 1908, 3,000 Wadaiens started for a slave raid and
plundering expedition in the direction of Attia. A thousand
of them were armed with modern rifles. Captain Jerusalem,
115 I 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Lieuts. Le Grand and Godard and Sergeant An Rousseau
with 80 Senegalese tirailleurs (sharpshooters) were sent
against them. A fierce conflict took place at Dogotchi.
The Wadaiens were beaten and retreated, but to pursue 3,000
men with only 80 soldiers seemed not advisable, and Captain
Jerusalem returned to Attai. Cavalry-Sergeant (Marechal
de Logis) Au Rousseau was wounded in the neck during the
A MIGHTY HUNTER, LIEUT. TOURENCQ.
attack, five tirailleurs were killed on the field, and six were
wounded. Of these five died, and only one, a native sergeant
who had been shot through the leg, Hved.
The next fight took place on June 14th, 1908, about halfway
between Attai and Abesher in the waterless bush.
Lieut. -Colonel Julien, who has been in Central Africa on
and off for 15 years and built Fort Archambault, commanded
116
The Birth of a New Protectorate.
on the French side. His Httle army consisted of Captain
Jerusalem, Lieuts. de Tonquieres, Blard, Tourencq (a mighty-
hunter, and a clever photographer who takes pictures of
charging elephants and charging Wadaiens), four sergeants,
one corporal, one canonnier, 120 tirailleurs, 18 artillerymen,
420 native levies, and two cannon.
Against him he had between 8,000 and 9,000 Wadaiens
led by the chief general of Wadai, Agid Mamid.
A short but sharp fight took place in which the Wadaiens
were utterly routed. Agid Mamid, two sons of the Sultan of
Wadai, and 1,300 Wadaiens were killed, 14 flags were taken,
and when the rifles were gathered in one heap, a French
sergeant who was present said " the heap was as high as
that hut," pointing to a hut 12 feet high. There were
dozens of Winchester rifles. Martini Henry's, automatic rifles
of different patterns, Colt revolvers, and many other modern
arms.
On the French side. Sergeant Le Noan was wounded, four
tirailleurs killed and 20 wounded, besides 40 or 50 of the
friendly natives killed.
There was not sufficient water near the battlefield to permit
the erection of a fortified camp, and so the Lieut. -Colonel
marched back about 100 kilometres and built a fort.
The third engagement took place in Kanem in the beginning
of December, 1908. A small French force, having heard that
Wadaiens and a large number of Arabs belonging to Sinussi
had erected a fortification at Ain Galaga, made a reconnais-
sance in the direction of this oasis. After reaching Ain
Galaga, they were very unwisely led to attack the Arab Camp
and met with a bad reverse. All their transport animals
were lost, and had the Arabs pursued, none of them would have
escaped. About the same time, in Dar-Kuti, south of Wadai,
two white traders were killed, and matters looked some-
what black.
117
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
An important journey should be mentioned here. Lieut.
Bourraud, accompanied only by four tirailleurs, went for a
30 days' march through Wadai territory, and secured much
valuable information. He did not meet with any opposition.
And now we come to the last scene in the conflict. For six
months there had been a suspension of hostilities, but as
Wadai kept on strengthening its forces and fortifications,
and as there seemed no hope of coming to a peaceful under-
standing, it was decided to make a determined attempt to
take Abesher.
From the different military posts in the Shari-Chad Pro-
tectorate all troops that could be spared w^ere ordered to
assemble in the beginning of June on the Wadai border.
The whole force would have consisted of some 400 tirailleurs
with three or four cannons, led by about 15 white men, but
before the various contingents of this important expedition
had arrived at their destination, the die had been cast. Wadai
had fallen.
Captain Fugenschuch, a German of the French Foreign
Legion, had been asked to lead the avant-garde, which con-
sisted of Lieut. Bourraud, Lieut. Rupier of the Artillerie,
Lieut. Leandri, two sergeants, 180 tirailleurs and two cannon.
Captain Fugenschuch and Lieut. Bourraud, two men of
the type which the Yankees of the West call " skeered o'
nothings," marched against Abesher without w^aiting for the
other troops.
Fifty miles from that town they encountered the army of
Wadai consisting of 12,000 men. A fight ensued on June ist,
and the report which has just arrived here on its way from the
Governor to the Minister in Paris, says : " Wadaiens soundly
beaten ; Captain wounded in jaw. Lieut. Bourraud left him
and pursued enemy to Abesher, takes the City by storm,
waits for fresh forces, and proposes to follow Sultan of Wadai,
who has escaped in the direction of the Darfur border."
118
The Birth of a New Protectorate.
These are very few words, but they mean a great deal for
the Central Sudan.
Other reports are arriving continually with the native
traders which elaborate and confirm the news of this wonder-
ful success."
Thus I wrote in July 1909 at Fort Archambault.
On my arrival in the Eastern Sudan, I enquired whether
the Sultan of Wadai had been heard of in Darfur, but was
informed that he had not gone in that direction, but into the
Sahara. This news seemed to me contrary to the information
I had gathered from the natives, and I expressed myself
accordingly, but was told I was mistaken. Now the news
has come of a serious French reverse on the Darfur border.
Captain Fugenschuch, several officers, and practically the
whole column of 120 men has been annihilated, only some
five or six escaping. This is a very serious setback to the
advance of peace and civilisation in the Central Sudan.
Had Darfur been occupied before now by troops of the Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan, this misfortune, which carried away some of
the finest fighting men the French have had in the Shari-Chad
Protectorate, would not have happened, as the Sultan of
Wadai would not have fled towards the Darfur border. He
was evidently assured of a welcome and support by the Sultan
of Darfur. Colonel Moll, the Governor of the French Shari-
Chad Protectorate, who is, according to the latest news,
in Abesher, the capital of Wadai, has withdrawn the troops from
Sinussi's country, and is concentrating all his efforts on Wadai
at the present moment to safeguard his former successes.
It is an open question whether this may not lead to trouble
in Sinussi's country. As long as Islam is what it is, a Moham-
medan fanatical outbreak may be expected at any time,
and as these territories are very far removed from Europe,
to cope with such an outbreak adequately would be exceed-
ingly difficult.
119
CHAPTER X.
Big Game of the Shari Valley.
AniElephant Hunt— Music Indescribable! — Forty Elephants — The Charge :
and After !— My First Elephant — Native Hunting Methods— Rogues —
Hippo Hunting — The Father of the Herd.
'' ■ " Then I followed the chase by mere nature and inclination, but now I
know Fhave a right to follow it, because it gives me endurance, promptness,
courage, self-control, as well as health and cheerfulness." — Charles
KiNGSLEY.
One hundred years ago Africa must have been alive with
wild game if in the now well-known parts game was as plentiful
as in the lesser known, such as the Shari region, the Bhar-
el-Ghazal and East Central Africa.
I^[subjoin a few episodes of the chase in the neighbour-
hood of Fort Archambault, where, within a day's journey,
one was sure to find elephant, rhino, hippo, giraffe, buffalo,
boar, and a dozen different kinds of antelope.
On Thursday, June 3rd, I left Fort Archambault with 30
men and two horses, carrying four rifles, a shot gun, and a
revolver with me. I had heard so much about the vast
herds of elephants in the neighbourhood, that I longed to get
a sight of them, put my shooting powers to the test, and
secure a few pounds' worth of ivory. I saw the elephants,
shot at them, but as to securing the pounds' worth of ivory,
I came off badly.
Six hours' march from Fort Archambault brought us to a
little Kirdi village named Joko, in the bush on the western bank
of the Shari. A very ancient chief bade us welcome, and
Big Game of the Shari Valley
provided food, wood and water. The tent was pitched, and
we retired early. The hunter who had been sent ahead
on the previous day reported that the elephants were in the
neighbourhood ; they had been heard by the village people.
In spite of their large size it is easier to hear than to see
elephants.
For five days, each day for about six hours, I followed
the traces of two herds, a herd of 60 on the west and one of
WiH^^WK* '^^^^^wMBBB
■
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llpiyHiyi^ , JU^
i
HEADMEN OF DR. KUMM AT FORT ARCHAMBAULT.
40 on the east bank of the Shari. On the first day, after hot
and tiring tracking, all we got was a severe drenching through
a heavy tornado. We never got near the elephants. At
I o'clock in the afternoon, the spoor was at least four hours
old. With considerable satisfaction I killed two hartebeests
on our way back to the village, so that my tired men had meat
to cheer them. The hartebeest in the Shari valley is similar
to the East African and an entirely different species to that
of Northern Nigeria. Its coat is a darker colour, and the
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
horns are smaller and somewhat differently shaped. The long
head and the cow-gallop is the same.
The second day of my elephant hunt was a red-letter day.
Starting at 6 oclock, 15 natives and myself went about three
miles up the Shari, and crossed the river close to a little fishing
village. The ground was very wet after yesterday's heavy
shower. My horse kept slipping about continually, and once
fell heavily on sloping ground. The travelling became so bad
that I felt like giving up. Still there might be elephants
close by, and if it was hard going for us, it must be consider-
ably harder for the elephants, and there seemed a hope that
they might curtail their morning constitutional, which usually
takes them over 30 or 40 miles of ground. At 8.30 a.m.
we came upon fresh spoor, only about two hours old. A
herd of 40 or 50 had been slowly meandering through the forest
and left behind them, wonderfully evident marks of their
playfulness in the shape of pulled-down branches, rooted-up
trees and holes two feet deep dug by their tusks. They had
broken a new road through the bush, and we were not slow in
availing ourselves of the inviting prospect of coming up with
them. Once a swamp blocked our way which the elephants
had passed, but which our horses could not ford, and we
had to make a circuit of several miles, taking up the spoor
again on the further side.
Mile after mile we followed, and it seemed to become no
fresher. At 10.30 we had just passed a little fadama (meadow)
in the forest when we caught the " once heard never for-
gotten " grumblings of the elephants. The wind was most
favourable. In an instant we were off our horses, and sending
the carriers, natives and animals back, the four of us — that
is, a native hunter, my interpreter Osman, my head boy
Dangana and myself (I had with me two '405 Winchesters
and two French Army rifles) — proceeded carefully to in-
vestigate the position of the game.
Big Game of the Shari Valley
Nearer and nearer came the magnificent gurgling and
grunting, sometimes sounding like low organ notes. There
is no word in the English language describing the music the
elephant indulges in. One might call it " organing," from
the German " Orgeln," the red-deer's call in the mating
season. Another 50 yards and through the bushes loomed
the giant slaty-coloured bodies of the beasts. Unconsciously
I stopped, but the hunter went on and motioned me to
advance also. Where he could go, of course, I could go. We
were 50 yards from the nearest animal. Quietly they con-
tinued munching the grass and leaves. Forty yards — we
could see the little pig's eyes twinkling, see the ears flap, and
the tails whisk. Thirty yards — how far was that hunter
going ? Was he to creep right amongst them ? I noticed
several large beasts coming towards us from the right. The
hunter saw them too and stooped. Close by my side he
kneeled behind a bush. There were no large trees that an
elephant could not break or root up in an instant ; nothing
but scrub, brushwood, grass and a few small shea trees. If
the elephants charged there was no running away from them,
no tree to climb, no hole to hide in. But why think of run-
ning ? I held in my hand a Winchester loaded with five
hard-nosed bullets that would go through anything in the
elephant — skin, flesh and bone.
Silently we watched the great beasts in front of us ; they
were evidently unconscious of our presence, and continued
quietly feeding. The hunter touched my arm and pointed
to the tusks of the mighty head on the left, another in front
of us, and two or three on the right. There were before us
altogether about 10 full-grown elephants, and 30 young ones
ageing from one year to twenty years.
All these observations take some time to recount, but less
than one minute had elapsed since we got the first glimpse
of the elephants, when I fired my first shot just in front of
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
the ear of the largest animal. Another shot followed into
the next beast's head, but no result. By this time the heads
of all the younger animals were high in the air. The large
ears spread out like sails of ships before the wind. The
trunks stretched snake-like forward sniffing the air. This
way and that way surged the living mass of bodies, not know-
ing in which direction to turn, crushing trees and bushes like
matchwood. We lay flat on the ground hardly daring to
breathe. Mothers anxious for their young roared, the little
ones screeched and the older ones grunted and trumpeted.
Now the leader had found a way to the left ; he moved, and,
closely pressed together, about 20 followed. A sigh of relief rose
from our hearts. We were safely through. None had charged
us.
Safe ? No ! the worst was to come. Suddenly before
us on our right loomed up the heads of six of the largest
elephants bearing straight down upon us. They were 30 yards
away — 20 yards ! With feverish haste I raised my rifle
and fired one, two, three shots. Still they were coming, and
now my nerves gave way and I ran like a hare. My boys
had already disappeared. The whole world seemed full
of elephants. Before me rose a small anthill. If one were
only an ant and could creep into it ! In an instant I was
flat on the ground behind it, and beside me thundered the
charge of the behemoths. I had hardly reached the ground
when I let fly at the neck of the nearest as he passed within
a few yards, and then lay still for a minute. This was the
first time that I have trembled before game in Africa, but
the earth seemed to shake, and all around me to be filled with
roaring, trumpeting giants. I know I ought to be ashamed
of getting frightened, but I am afraid I am not. It was
too much for my nerves. There was no protection in my
rifle against six charging elephants. If there had only been
one it might have been different ; and there was no safety
124
Big Game of the Shari Valley.
any\vhere else. During the following night I suffered from the
after-effects of this charge. I woke up with a cry of alarm,
soaked in perspiration, trembling as if the elephants were
on top of me. I had been fighting about with my arms,
and had pulled down my mosquito net.
But let us return to the chase — one might well be in doubt
as to who was the chased. All became still. Osman and
the hunter had gone after the herd, and Dangana lay about
20 yards behind in the middle of a thorn bush. He had been
with me to hunt buffaloes, and had not been afraid. He
had been several times within a few yards of lions, and had
not shown the white feather. He had walked with me right
up to the elephants and exhibited no fear ; but now his pluck
was gone, and when a few minutes afterwards he fell into an
elephant-trap (a hole some 12 feet deep covered over with
grass) he had had enough of elephant hunting, and begged
to be excused from accompanying me the next day.
I am continually digressing from the consecutive course
of events during the hunt. Our encounter with the elephants
had only lasted above five minutes, but much had happened
in that time. I rose to look for the dead elephants, and felt
pretty sure that I had killed three or four, having hit four of
them in the head at such short distance that it was absolutely
impossible to miss. I walked all over the ground where the
elephants had stood and found — nothing !
I looked at Dangana and he looked at me.
Where are all the elephants ?
There was a certain amount of blood. One or two seemed
to have fallen and got up again, but not one of them was
dead on the spot. I knew not what to think or say.
A few yards further I came upon a full-grown bull.
He stood sideways to us 40 yards off. I knelt down and
gave him a bullet through the ear. He turned round and
looked mischievously in our direction, but evidently did
125
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
not see us. I gave him another ball in the shoulder. He
charged, but a third ball through the head brought him to
the ground. With a roar and a crash he fell. One tusk
was buried deeply into the damp eartli, and his body firmly
wedged between two small trees.
This was my first elephant.
Calhng the men, I left them with the animal, and myself
followed the herd for the greater part of that day and the
next, but could not find any wounded. What was the reason
they did not fall on the spot ? All my shots were wTongly
placed. I had been informed that a shot through the ear
would kill on the spot, but neither a shot through the ear
or the eye has brought down any elephant yet for me.
After the head of the beast had been cut off I had the skull
placed against a tree, and fired at it from different directions,
and I found that a bullet placed at the root of the trunk
was the one that penetrated the brain every time, while all
the other shots were unsafe, except a shot half way between
the ear and the eye.
The natives of the village were greatly delighted with the
mountain of meat, and became our fast friends.
The native elephant hunters have a sure and simple method
of bringing their quarry to bay. They carry with them
not modern Express rifles, but very old-fashioned 8-bore or
4-bore, fill these with a tremendous charge of powder, and
put a heavy ball on to it. Then they choose their elephant
out of the herd, and with the wind in the right direction walk
carefully up to him. It is wonderful how little elephants
seem to be able to recognise their chief enemy. The hunter
goes up to within 20 yards and then crawls right up to the
side of the feeding beast. He points his wonderful gaspipe
at the fore leg of his prey and discharges the gun, breaking
the knee if possible. Having done so, he turns tail and runs,
to escape any other charging beast. Within a few minutes
126
Big Game of the Shari Valley.
the herd has moved on, but the wounded animal remains
behind, as it is impossible for him to either walk or run. He
may stand for a minute on three legs, but immediately he
attempts to attack he is sure to come down, and at leisure
the natives can appropriate the meat and the ivory b^- killing
the elephant either with many shots or spear wounds.
Another method used in Northern Nigeria is for the hunter
to arm himself with a similarly large weapon into which he
loads a poisoned arrow, the barbed head of which is heavily
covered with a most deadly mixture of animal and vegetable
poison. Rarely the elephant runs for more than an hour
if wounded by a poisoned arrow, when he succumbs. But
on the whole the elephant, so far from being " poor, innocent
hunted game," is very much the reverse. In many cases he
is the hunter and man is the hunted.
Between Bor on the Nile and Gondokoro, a herd of 300 or
400 elephants is reported both by Government officials and
the missionaries at Bor to be a most dangerous company of
men-hunters. They are all said to be rogues charging not
only on sight but on smell, and they can smell a long way off.
The Dinka people who live in that part of the Sudan stand
in constant terror of these animals. A native chief, while
travelling through his country from village to village, is said
to be in the habit of always sending an old lady some 50 or 100
yards ahead of himself and his people to investigate the dangers
of the road. The white men of the White Nile have asked
that the whole herd might be outlawed and shot down by
anybody who likes. A few days before I passed one of the
Government Posts, a native had been caught by an elephant
on the bush path ; the elephant put one foot on liis body,
twined his trunk around his chest and pulled him in two.
Previously to my having come into contact with elephants,
it always seemed to me a pity to have these magnificent
brutes shot down promiscuously by our modern rifles. I
129 K
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
pitied the poor animals, but I can assure the reader that
pity for tliem has left me, and though I certainly do not
advocate their being shot down — male, female and young —
yet I am quite sure that the elephant is perfectly well able
to take care of himself, and if the laws prevent the young
and the females from being killed, the large bulls will give
any successor of Nimrod as exciting a time as he will desire
to have. The elephant does not need to be commiserated
by anybody.
Miltu, May 9th, 1909.
The French non-commissioned officer — a Corse — had received
me most hospitably and begged me to stay with him one day.
He was rebuilding the station of Miltu, which on evacuation had
been destroyed by the Germans. The harvest for the natives
had been a poor one, and those that worked at the station
had not very much to eat. He had promised them that if
they worked well during the week he would shoot several
hippos for them on Saturday, and he asked me if I would
not join him in the hunt. I had to change my polers any
way, and my men begged me to go and get them some meat,
so I stayed. About 7 a.m. we left, going across the river in
one of my boats, and then for a couple of miles through the
bush aimed for a backwater of the Shari, which, at that time,
had no connection with the river, was about a mile in length,
some 50 to 100 yards wide and 15 to 20 feet in depth. A herd
of eight hippos was reported to be living in this pool. The
banks of the pool were high and covered with trees, and
afforded a splendid sight of the water below. On our way
to the pool we came upon a herd of cob, and, incited by the
Corse, I fired at a large buck at about 250 yards. Four or
five long leaps marked him as heavily wounded, and when we
came up to him he was dead. I am very much against
shooting at long distances in Africa, as usually wounded game
cannot be found in the long grass, and dies uselessly.
Big Game of the Shari Valley
On arrival at the hippo pool we found that the animals were
at home, and soon the French non-commissioned officer had
killed a young one with a shot through the head. Another one I
wounded with a shot through the neck. Both disappeared, and
we sat down for them to rise. It takes about an hour for the
animals to come to the surface after they are dead. Whilst
sitting there waiting, my boy Dangana, who had been inves-
tigating matters further down the pool, came to me and
informed me that my wounded bull had gone down some
distance walking along the bottom of the pool, and had come
up to the surface 500 yards away from us blowing up streams
of blood. I felt tired, but at the suggestion of the French-
man handed Dan the rifle and told him to shoot it if he could.
Not more than five minutes later I heard two shots in quick
succession and then a triumphant shout. Dan had suc-
ceeded in bagging his first hippo. I went along to him and
found him sitting down waiting for his animal to come to
the surface. While waiting there I saw another large bull
come towards us rising from time to time. So I waited for
him and killed him with a shot through the brain. Then
we kept on waiting and had lunch. After a while the natives
began to talk in an excited way at the different places where
the dead animals had disappeared, and we knew that they had
come to the surface. Armed with spears the men swam out to
the carcases, and, pushing them before them, landed on the
bank. We tried to have the smallest dragged out of the water,
and therefore turned 30 of the men on to it ; but it was
impossible to raise the mass of meat, and we had to give it up.
I was still giving directions about the way in which the
animals might be taken out of the water, when the father
of the herd came to see what was happening with all that
noise and shouting, excited also by the blood of his com-
panions. He raised himself half out of the water within
40 yards and roared. He had a pair of magnificent tusks
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
in his head, and I longed to have them. As we could well
dispose of all the meat we might shoot, I felt justified in
seeking to secure him. Waiting therefore for an opportunity,
I fired at him when he next appeared, but only succeeded
in wounding him. Mad wuth pain and fury, he ploughed
up the channel, raising high waves that dashed against the
banks. Right on he went to the end of the pool, and then
came out of the water. At 150 yards I fired at him again,
having raced after him, but missed, and he went slowly away
into the bush. Here was a chance of a regular free fight
on terra firma with this magnificent pachyderm. Followed
A FATHER WITH HIS FAMILY.
by Osman and Dangana, I went after him and espied him
in the low jungle after following for about half a mile. His
pinky skin looked very curious in the green grass. I fired
at his shoulder, and grumbling, he went away. Another
100 yards and he stood again facing us. I aimed at his fore-
head, and he received a bullet through the skull. Vainly
he tried to charge us, and with a great crash he tumbled
sideways into the bushes. I brought his tusks home. They
are an exceptional set, and have been admired by some of
our African gentry.
132
CHAPTER XI.
Two Days' Huntixg.
A Curious Giraffe — Buffaloes — A Black Demon — Promenading Rhinos —
Lion Calling — Giraffes — Buck — Stalking Water-buck — Wart Hog.
"To quiet, steady-going people in England there is an idea of cruelty
inseparable from the pursuit of large game. People talk of ' unoffending
elephants,' ' poor buffaloes,' ' pretty deer,' and a variety of nonsense about
things which they cannot possibly understand."'
" There is no time when a man knows himself so thoroughly as when he
depends upon himself, and this forms his excitement."
— Sir Samuel Baker.
The most successful day of shooting I had in the Shari Valley
was May 20th, 1909. "Sly interpreter, Osman, who had come
with a number of my men and
the horses along the eastern
bank of the Shari from Man-
jaffa to Fort Archambault,
had shot on the day previous
to his arrival, a three-horned
giraffe, two of the horns of
which had a short branch to
them making it a kind of five-
horned giraffe. This seemed
to me so extraordinary that
I decided to return from Fort
Archambault, and see whether
I could not secure a good
specimen of this seemingly
new species. I took 12 men with me, my tent, shooting
irons and a quantity of salt, packed all these things into
HORNS OF SHARI-CHAD GIRAFFE.
I'Voni Hausaland to E^ypt, through the Sudan.
one of my two canoes, and went poling down the Shari
at I p.m. on May 19th. We had started too late and did
not arrive at our destination that evening. We therefore
camped on a sandbank and 1 used the remaining 20 minutes
of daylight to secure two antelopes for supper. Next morning
we were away before daybreak, and at 11 o'clock we reached
a pool inhabited by a herd of hippos. Here we left the canoe
and started on a four hours' march overland in the direction
of the Bahr-es-Salamaat, where my good man had shot his
giraffe, and where he maintained there was a great deal of
game. The afternoon was exceptionally hot, and by 3 o'clock
I was pretty well fagged out and sat down under a
shady tree. My men, carrying loads, had gone slowly ahead
when my small boy, Peter, came rushing back with the news
that a herd of buffalo was blocking the road. This news was
so exciting that I was not long in gaining the head of my httle
caravan, and there, right enough, 150 yards ahead of me,
a large herd of buffalo was moving about in the bush, without
seeming to want to go anywhere specially.
Carefull}^ I made up to them in full sight as they were watch-
ing us, and got to within about 80 yards. Now the whole
herd took it into their heads to stampede, and off they went
to the right, circling round us. In doing so they had to pass an
open space of about 20 yards between two large trees some 80
yards away from me, and as they crossed this I picked out
the oldest bull and a younger full-grown animal. The latter
dropped at the shot which had been aimed at the neck, the
safest shot for buffalo. I went up to it and finished it with
another bullet through the nape of the neck. This young bull
was in magnificent condition, and was covered with red hair,
and his beef was most excellent eating. Within 200 yards
of the place where I had shot him, we found a water hole,
and I decided to camp there.
Some of the men were ordered off to pitch the tent, and
134
Two Days' Hunting.
others went back to the buffalo to cut him up. I accompanied
the latter, being followed by my interpreter, Osman, whom
I had given my second rifle to carry. Later I intended to
follow the badly wounded father of the herd. I had aimed
at the neck, but was afraid that m\' bullet had struck a little
too far back, and the blood marks showed that it was a lung
shot. He had evidently gone away with the herd for a little
distance, until the other animals, frightened by the smell
of blood, had left him and careered away towards the east.
T missed the place where the herd had left him and went on
after the former, but as there was no more blood spoor,
I turned back and began searching for the wounded animal.
I had only turned back for about lo yards, when yells, and
then a shot, gave me the direction where I might look for the
wounded bull. I did not make haste slowly, as I knew my
buffalo would probably be up to mischief and might do damage
amongst my men. Soon I came upon my faithfuls sitting in
the branches of the trees and a snorting black demon pawing
the ground underneath. He saw me and came, and I let him
come ; protected by a fair sized tree, I let him charge right
in, and then gave him a bullet in the neck. His legs gave
way underneath him, and with a bellow he sank to the ground,
his glassy eyes staring furiously at me. He was a very old
bull, quite black, large patches of his hind quarters and legs
being entirely denuded of hair. His horns were curiously
flat, and as they were of considerable size, I decided to take
them with me across Africa, thinking that their curious shape
might mean a new species.
Back I strolled to the tent which had been pitched in the
meantime to have my afternoon cup of tea, but it was not
ready, and instead of sitting down to wait for it, I took a boy
with me and went off in the opposite direction, towards the west,
in the hope of coming across some more game. A numiber of
beautiful butterflies sporting in an open glade attracted my
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
attention, and vainly I attempted to catch one or two for
ni}' collection. While I was still busily engaged in this pursuit
my bov suddenly gave a low call and swarmed up a
tree, pointing to two dark bodies some 30 yards away. A
rhino pair, evidently out for their afternoon walk, seemed
much disturbed at our invading their domain. Their mis-
chievous little eyes looked in our direction. They gave several
grunts, evidently concerting with each other whether it would
be advisable to play with us. I had my rifle in my hand,
but in the rifle there were only soft-nosed cartridges, not
very safe missiles for the attack of those thick hides. I
CURIOUS FLAT HORNS OF A BUFFALO OF THE CHAD REGION.
jumped up to tlie tree on which my bo}' hung and hauled
at his leg, explaining to him that I wanted a hard-nosed
bullet. In a moment I had one, jammed it into the chamber
of my rifle, and just when the two had decided to look at us
more closely, I caught the first one witli a front shot that
penetrated his heart and killed him on the spot. Without
a sound he subsided, sitting down on his haunches, his legs
stretched out in front, and his head resting between his fore-
legs. Two more grunts his companion gave and then came
towards me. With frantic haste I hauled again at the leg of
my boy, telephoning up to him that I wanted at least two
i-,6
Two Days' Hunting.
more cartridges. I got them, pushed them into my rifle,
and just as the beast went at full tilt past the tree behind which
I was hiding, I got him behind the shoulder. Round he spun
and came for me again, and that time I put in a bullet close
to the eye which evidently destroyed his thinking powers.
His forepart tr^nng to stop and his hind part coming on made
him turn a complete somersault, and with a squeal he lay
dead, the whole happening not more than 150 yards away from
the tent. Within a couple of minutes my boys were all round
me, and rejoiced in the feast ahead of them. It was 4 o'clock
when I went back to the tent for my tea, having secured
two buffaloes and two rhinos within less than an hour.
About that time rain commenced and a very heavy
thunderstorm, with drenching downpour, which went on till
about 6 o'clock, converted the flat land around us into a great
swamp.
I had heard a good deal about the delicacy of cooked
elephant's foot, and I thought I would have a try at cooked
rhino. So I went over with two of my boys to cut off one of
the legs of the rhinos. Peter and Audu were busily engaged
with their hunting knives, and I was standing by ; darkness
had come, there was no moon, and as we were only a short
distance from the tent, I had not thought it worth while
to take a lamp with me.
Suddenly, within about 50 yards, the voice of the king of
the forest announced his presence. A somewhat creepy
feeling went down my back. If we had only been able to see — •
but hearing the growls close by, and expecting at any moment
a charge without knowing exactly when or whence it
come was, to say the least of it, uncomfortable. I told the
boys to hurry up while I stood by with cocked rifle and my
six-shooter loosened in my belt. The grunts of the lion
went right round us, and as soon as the leg was off the three
of us returned to the tent, and right warily we walked. We
137
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
got back safely and spent a quiet night, being tired out after
the day's work. The growls of two lions continued till
morning, and before daybreak I went out with my rifle ex-
pecting to find them by the carcases of the rhinos. Slowly
I stalked up to these carcasses before the dawn of day, but
they had not been touched. Perhaps they had not " haiU
gout " enough for the lions. Leaving therefore the rhinos,
I continued in the same direction, and shortly after came
upon a herd of nine giraffes. I shot one of them, quite a
fair specimen, but not one of the nine was as good as I should
have liked to have secured.
On my way back to the tent I shot a small bush-buck,
and then had my loads packed to go back to Fort Archam-
bault. Before we left our camp the inhabitants of three of
the Sara-Kabba villages had appeared on the scene and begun
to celebrate orgies among the hills of flesh.
In the afternoon of May 22nd I was back in Fort Archam-
bault, exceedingly pleased with the success of my little trip.
Several more excursions from the same centre yielded a
good deal of meat of various antelopes, wart-hog and other
small animals.
It was at Busso, where we had been waiting for a week to
procure polers to take our boats further up the river, that we
became somewhat short of food, and I therefore took a day to
go down the river a little distance in order to secure meat.
I had shot several crocodiles on the previous days, but my
men refused to eat croc. Under a number of large shady
trees we made fast to the east bank of the river, and, followed
by a few of my native hunters, I went into the bush. Some
open fadamas (meadows) were reported to be a favourite
haunting ground for water-buck, cob, hartebeest, boar and
other game. Within 100 yards from the landing-place I
came upon a herd of some 20 water-buck. I stalked them
138
Two Days' Hunting.
carefully, and thought I had at least two or three at my
mercy, but, in spite of carefully placed shots in the shoulders
of three of the largest, they all went away. Following, I came
upon them again some half a mile further on. I had cut them
off from the bush and they evidently wanted to get past me,
so, hiding, I waited for them to come, and as they passed I
dropped one I had previously wounded with a shot through
the heart. The previous shot had been high through the
lungs. Some half a dozen of the herd broke off to the right
at the shot, but in vain I followed them. They escaped.
On entering the bush where they had disappeared I met a cob
with curiously shaped horns, one of them bent right back,
having probably been broken in a fight. Two shots brought
him down. Using my whistle, a number of my men were
soon around me, and while they were skinning the; animal,
I went towards a little pool in the centre of an opening in the
bush. Here I got three small reed-buck (two buck and a doe).
Thus having secured an ample sufficiency of meat, I felt it
time to return. The heat was becoming oppressive, and slowly
we marched back towards the place where I had shot the
first water-buck. I could hardly believe that the two other
buck I had wounded could have got away, and told the men
to search for them. For more than an hour they hunted high
and low but failed to find them, when one of the men from the
boat came up and told us that they had seen a water-buck
heavily wounded close to the water's edge and had killed
it with their spears. ' So only one more needed to be accounted
for.
I was sitting under a tree desperately thirsty, deliberating
whether to return and leave the buck, when one of my men
pointed out that only about 500 yards away a good-sized
cob was leisurely feeding in the fadama where I had first
wounded the three water-buck. I got up, went within
150 3-ards and fired but missed. Just about the same time
141
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
I saw the long grass at the north end of the fadama open and
three wart hogs came out grunting and began to tear up the
ground in full sight of us. My men disappeared behind the
bushes, while I endeavoured to use this opportunity of adding
one or two porkers to my larder. Crawling on hands and
knees, I reached the last bunch of trees at the edge of the
grass. There was a boar and two sows, the boar being con-
siderably heavier than the other two. Taking careful aim
I let him have it slanting forward into the shoulder, and with
the shot he came down. He was evidently safe, so with the
next shot I took the larger sow, and with a squeal she subsided.
As the sow went down the boar got up again, and turning
round and round gazed, as if his geography had evidently
come to grief. He kept looking for the cause of his trouble,
evidently meaning mischief. Once more my rifle went up
and — click ! — no lire. 1 had used my last cartridge, and
here was a wounded boar disporting himself not more than
60 yards away. True, I had my six-shooter with me, but
I did not feel like going up to him and taking him on with that.
Two of my hunters lay behind me looking anxiously now
at me, now at the boar. I pointed at my rifle and gave them
to understand that I wanted cartridges. There was another
box of 20 in the boat. When I looked round again my men
were gone, and I waited eagerly for their return. Now and
then the beast in front of me stumbled, but he remained on
his legs. He had not seen me, or he would probably have
attacked me before now. To my disgust he walked slowly
towards the long grass and crept into it, as it seemed to me,
to lie down at the edge. I waited and waited what seemed to
me hours, but which was in reality only a few minutes. At
last one of my men came back, hot after a hasty run, with the
cartridges. Placing five into the chamber, I rose and walked
over to the place where the boar had disappeared. The
men came stalking after me. There lay the sow dead
142
Two Days' Hunting.
on the open ground, and here was the opening where the
boar had crept into the grass. There was a good deal of blood
but no boar. With spears the men poked into the long grass
around, but nothing could be seen or heard ; the boar had
vanished. We now carefully followed the spoor, but little by
little the blood marks disappeared, and then getting on to
stony ground, the spoor disappeared also. We searched and
and searched, but the beast was gone. The bullet must
evidently have penetrated between the heart and the back-
bone, and, touching the spine for a moment, paralysed
the animal without doing him serious injury. This is a shot
through which I have lost quite a number of animals. They
fall on the spot, and then when one goes up to them to cut
them up, they suddenly rise and disappear for good, being
none the worse for their wound.
It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and time for us to return
to Busso. We were slowly strolling down towards the boat,
when the men, who still kept looking around in the long grass,
came upon the third water-buck I had wounded in the morning
lying dead in the middle of the scrub. With his heart shot
through he had gone over loo yards into the long grass and
bush, and had then dropped dead.
The bag of the day was not at all a bad one, consisting of
three water-buck, one cob, three reed-buck, one wart-hog.
Our canoe was filled with the meat and merrily we poled
back up the river. Close to Busso I added two spur-winged
geese to our game bag. I had fired 17 shots. The geese
I had shot of course with the rifle. To hit an animal or a bird
from a moving boat is one of the most difficult things. I have
frequently fired from canoes, but seldom killed with the first
shot.
143
CHAPTER XII.
Into the Unknown.
Losses — Pack-Oxen a Trial to the Flesh — Pilgrims on Trek — Hausa
Pilgrims and Cannibal Chief : A Contrast — Pack-Oxen — My War-boys —
Wet — Lions — More Trouble with My Guard of Honour — Game— Bush
Camp — Ox Shams Dying — Lip Discs — A Hunted People — Disfigured
Women — An Empty \'illage — The Golden Rule — Oxen Begin to Die —
Gluttons — Sons of Anak — Tornado — Hungry Pilgrims — Taxing Pilgrims
— One More Little Shower— Exciting Chase— Wet, Wetter, Wettest I—
A Lazy Pilgrim — Game — The Ba River — Elephant Country — A Land
of Contrasts — Moths and Butterflies — First Fever — Walking Off Fever — ■
Game Preserves of the Slave-Raiders — Rain — -Our Column.
We left Fort Archambault at 6 a.m. on July nth ; crossed
the Shari at the Fort in a balliniere, which is the French
name for the steel boats used on the Shari. The boat was
down to the gunwale and things looked very precarious,
but somehow we managed to get across safely. I had sent
the oxen to the other side on the previous day. The horses
followed. I had four with me now, my two best having died
at Fort Archambault from tsetse fly bites. The first one,
a heavy cart horse, I had bought at Yola, and the second
an exceptionally fleet runner, had been presented to me
by the chief of Marua, that is, it had indirectly, of course,
been paid for by return presents. I had now only two Bagirmi
horses left, one of them a magnificent beast which I called
" Flying Fox " and two " heathen " ponies, a white pony
from Garua, and a large grey pony from Fort Archambault.
The representative of the French Trading Company had come
across to bid me God-speed, and the Government men had
waved their farewell from the Fort when I began my journey
144
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Into the Unknown.
into the unknown. True, one or two French non-commissioned
officers and a French Lieutenant had been over the ground,
but there was no route report in existence.
Half a mile from the river bank the rain of the previous
day had created another river breast deep. Up to this point
I had all my belongings carried, and only began to load the
oxen on the other side. A large box of breakfast food, being
CROSSING THE SHARI AT FORT ARCHAMBAULT.
liable to be spoiled by water, I had entrusted for special
care to Audu Abuja. He marched into the river and dis-
appeared, having stumbled over some rock or tree at the
bottom, and my box went sailing away. Quickly the man
swam after it and brought it back ; but, in spite of our drying
them, the contents were all spoiled.
Those who have had anything to do with loading fresh
145 L
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
animals need not be told that we had a most lively time.
We commenced at 8 a.m. Carefully the pack saddles were
placed and tied firmly, and then two cases of some 50 lbs.
each secured over them. The animal had stood quite patiently
until we invited him to move by pulling at the rope he had
through his nose. He gave a side jump of about six feet,
and bucking and kicking and rearing and roaring, he sent
the cases flying. Was there ever such a heart-rending exhibi-
tion ! I only intended to go nine kilometres that day. With
four of the oxen we could do nothing, and the boys had to
take the loads on their heads. Oh ! those nine kilometres.
And to improve matters at i p.m. we had a good drenching
shower of rain. Like half-drowned rats we arrived in the
Kirdi Village — Sello — at 1.30 p.m. Nine kilometres, equal
to about six miles, took us seven hours' hard work, that
is, only a little less than a mile an hour. If things went
on like this, the unexplored region ahead would remain
unexplored.
I had the tent pitched and thoroughly overhauled all the
loads. They were in a bad state, and no wonder, after being
thrown about in all directions. During the night it rained
again, and thus it went on, rain, rain, rain, every day.
A look at the map of the country between the Shari and
the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan shows a considerable number of
names of towns and villages. Practically all of them are non-
existent. The plan followed in the middle ages, viz., to fill
in the empty spaces on the maps with beasts and birds, might
have been more justifiable in the case of the bush I was now
traversing than to include from hearsay or imagination
the names of places which were not, and are not.
"Geographers in Afric's maps.
With savage pictures fill their gaps,
And over uninhabitable downs
Place elephants for want of towns.'"'
146
Into the Unknown.
On Tuesday, July 12th, we left Sello at 7 a.m. After an
hour's packing, only three loads were thrown, while as a result
of my rearrangements, four oxen went empty. One of these
four had the mats and the boys' food, &c., secured on his back,
but he threw them off again. I left one of the Senegalese
soldiers and two men to straighten out things and follow.
For two hours all went well, but then the bush became
thicker, the trees grew closer together, and the loads knocked
against them continually.
We passed a small Kirdi village, and later skirted a
considerable swamp, going along the edge of a fadama, when
we came up with a Hausa caravan. The leader of this
caravan had three days previously asked m}^ permission to
accompany me from Fort Archambault to the Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan. It consisted of some 60 people who became merged
in my own following.
These good pilgrims had a special claim on me, as they
came from our own territory of Northern Nigeria. Most
of them were Kano people, one or two had their homes near
Sokoto, and a few were from Kontagora and Zaria. With
almost all their money gone, the provisions eaten, and only
some half-a-dozen partly-starved donkeys left, they were
in a pitiable plight.
It was most astonishing to watch their cheerfulness in
spite of their misery, and when I was able to supply them
with two hippopotami a few days later, and they could load
themselves with dried meat, they were as happy as boys out
on a holiday.
Their caravan included five old men, fifteen young men,
twenty women, four or five young girls, a dozen boys and
half-a-dozen infants.
During our march one of the old men died, and one baby
was born, so that the same number of pilgrims arrived in the
Nile region that left the Shari.
147 L 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
The donkeys went the way of all flesh after the first 300
miles ; they were tired of life when I first saw them.
In dealing with one's people it is a great help to be able
to speak their language, and as my men spoke Hausa, with the
exception of two or three Bagirmis and a few Arabs, I had
absolutely no dififtcult}- with them.
There was a good deal of buffalo spoor on the edge of the
fadama, and when one of my oxen disappeared into the bush,
I was afraid we had seen the last of him. Three of my wise
boys took the loads off two of the tamest of our oxen, and
drove them into the bush, on the spoor of the escaped one,
and within an hour came back with all three.
Later we reached Ngore, another Kirdi village. The chief
was a smiling old cannibal. Man}- of the people had their
front teeth filed to sharp points, a sign of cannibalism. The
dash (present) of Monsieur le Roi consisted of a fowl, six eggs,
three goats, a large calabash of guinea-corn for the horses,
and 32 calabashes of food for the men.
A most distressing object came to see me in the person of
an aged Hausa pilgrim in a half-starved condition. He had
been left behind by a Hausa caravan, as his feet, swollen by
guinea worm, did not allow him to keep up. When the chief
came to see me and passed him, tlie poor fellow cringed on
the ground before the naked cannibal like a dog, afraid for
his life. The abject fear in this white-haired parchment-
covered bundle of bones was a sad sight. I gave him a piece
of cloth, and my men supplied him with plenty of food, which
he devoured greedily. His ravenous hunger appeased, he
crawled up to the tent, and in spite of my remonstrances
prostrated himself repeatedly before me, and his sing-
song " Na-gode, na-godia, Na-gode, na-godia " ("Thank
you — thank you — thank you ! ") continued for quite half-
an-hour, when at last I went into my tent to escape his
attentions.
Into the Unknown.
The backs of several of my oxen were beginning to get
sore, in spite of all the care lavished upon them.
We left Ngore next morning after an hour's packing. Things
were improving considerably. For loo yards we got on well,
then the headman Isafell off his ox and his load fell after him.
This was the third morning on which he had commenced the
journey with such a performance. The ordinary way amongst
the people in the Sudan using pack oxen is to place the load on
the beast anyhow, and then mount on the top and balance it.
The sun was deliciously warm. Just in front of me an
ox carried two loads carefully marked " Please do not drop "
for his information. It looked most ludicrous to see the
boxes, which had been packed in London, marked for the
benefit of my unruly beasts.
On this day we only went a short distance to Komsenga,
a Kirdi village. In the centre of the village we discovered
an excellent camping-place on high ground, with seven large
trees around it. The guinea-corn was almost full-grown —
two months earlier than in Northern Nigeria. There were
large fields of it. To the west an open fadama, two miles
wide, ran parallel with the road for a long distance, inhabited
by herds of Senegambian hartebeest, and here and there
a reed-buck gazed at us with his large black eyes, and
scampered away into the long grass.
I took out " Flying Fox " for a run in the afternoon, chased
one of the hartebeest and ran it down — quite a creditable
performance, as the ground was full of holes inhabited by
some sort of guinea-pig.
On my return to camp I found that my Sengalese tirailleurs
who were accompanying me had succeeded in raising trouble
in the village. They had appropriated a young woman and
tied her up in one of their huts. I had her immediately
released, and warned the war-boys not to attempt anything
like that again.
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From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Next morning we left, and I began to write up my daily
notes, when the rain commenced — a drenching downpour, which
flooded the whole country and everything that was on it. My
bedding in a waterproof sack imbibed the water like a sponge.
We arrived at our next halting-place, Konondobo, in a
most deplorable state. Imagine a string of people marching
along in pelting, pouring rain, the blades of grass driven by
the wind slashing their faces, the narrow path a racing brook.
The volleys and detonations of thunder threatened to shatter
their ear-drums, the poor beasts were hardly able to keep
on their legs and the ground became a slimy, greasy morass.
Two hours of this, I can assure the reader, is an ample
sufficiency to cool off all enthusiasm for African exploration.
The village only consisted of three or four huts, and the
usual camping-place under three large shade trees was one
sheet of water.
We were wet, we were cold, we were shivering, and just
when we felt ourselves in extremis the sun came out, and
within two hours everything was dry again.
During the afternoon I shot two cob. These, with two
hartebeest of yesterday, formed a welcome addition to the
food of my men. Lions kept up their concert all night, but
we were tired and took no notice of them.
Friday brought us to Bongobolo after a three hours' march.
These daily marches were very short ; but then we were in
the rainy season, and to attempt more would have meant
killing both man and beast.
The people were exceedingly friendly. They prepared a
considerable amount of food in advance, placed a number
of huts at my disposal for the men, and, when the heavy
rain came in the afternoon, we were able to find shelter from
it. My tent was flooded, and the boxes and some of the
furniture began to float about. I sat on the top of my bed
fishing for my belongings.
ISO
Into the Unknown.
At 4 p.m. I went out into the bush accompanied by several
of the natives in the hope of finding fresh meat. I met a
water-buck and followed, but did not succeed in securing
him. Just after I had left my native hunters I went round
a thick thorn bush on the spoor of the buck, my boys some
30 yards behind me. They told me afterwards that two
lions had stepped out of the bush after I had passed it and
sat down only about a dozen yards behind me, cutting me
off from my men. I had, in the meantime, gone out of sight,
and my men lay down expecting me to fire at the lions ; but
I never saw them, and only scored another drenching. Then
back to the tent.
Here a great hullaballoo was going on. My tirailleurs, in
spite of my orders of yesterday, had tied up this time a man
in one of the huts. One of my sharpshooters had his newdy-
wedded wife with him, and told me he had received permis-
sion from the commandant of Fort Archambault to impress
from village to village a native to carry the load for his spouse.
Yesterday's doings he explained by saying that the woman's
husband, whom he had instructed to carry his wife's load,
had run away, and so he had kept her as hostage.
During the evening all the natives fled into the bush. I
informed the soldier once more that if he wanted a carrier
he was to come and ask for one. He came and asked, and
I passed on his request to the chief, who, with smiling face,
offered me two instead of one. Half-an-hour later I heard
cries and shrieks, and on demanding silence was informed
that my good soldier had tied up another man whom he had
captured. He had roped him round the neck, the way they
used to secure their slaves.
I was greatly incensed at the audacity of the fellow, and
felt it was time to adopt drastic measures ; so I had the rope
cut away from the man's neck and thrown into the fire, and
asked for my riding-whip. Thereupon I proceeded to inform
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From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
the independent soldier gentleman that this was the last
time of warning. If I had another complaint he would get
the soundest thrashing he had ever had in his life. The
soldier dismissed, the chief came and thanked me in the
name of the people for the admonition I had given to the
soldier. He appointed two of his men to carry any load I
desired. I had, of course, animals enough, but thought it
advisable to act in accordance with the instruction the Officer
Commanding at Fort Archambault had given to the tirailleurs.
Some of the men were beginning to take good care of their
oxen, but the road was desperately bad, full of holes and
covered with water, and the loads tumbled off every few
yards. There was a good deal of swampy ground. As the
sun got warmer the path became drier, and led through open
glades ; a fairly broad river running parallel with the track.
The country was teeming with game — lions, hippos, rhinos,
elephants and all kinds of antelope. I saw five herds of
cob, two herds of water-buck, one herd of Senegambian harte-
beest, besides reed-buck and duiker. I shot a water-buck,
which proved very good eating.
Just after mid-day we formed camp in the bush. I had
a zareba prepared, as I did not wish to have my oxen stam-
peded by lions. The ground looked at first somewhat un-
promising, but proved after all a very good camping-place,
being dry, close to the water and enjoying a certain amount
of shade from a few large trees.
The next day was Sunday, and one would have been glad
not to travel, but to stay in the bush seemed inadvisable.
We therefore went on to the next village (a short march)
and made Monday our day of rest.
When starting off at 6.30 a.m. one of the oxen shammed
dying, turned up his eyes, and, though he was lifted bodily from
the ground, sank gracefully back. I thought he was gone ;
but my cattle Fulanis, who had seen him feed all night, knew
152
A SARA-KABBA WOMAN WITH THE BEAK FACE.
Into the Unknown.
better. One of them closed the nostrils and mouth so that
he could not breathe, and in less than 30 seconds the beast
was on his legs. The path was good that morning, but there
were still some swampy places.
One of these, of considerable size, stretching north to south,
just before we reached the village of Ngodjo was 2 feet deep.
Ngodjo, were it not for the multitude of mosquitoes and
CARRYING A PLATE IN HER LIPS.
bloodthirsty flies, would have been an ideal camping-place.
Only 10 people were living there at the time, but their chief
seemed most intelligent.
Two of the women here carried in their lips the wooden
discs of the Sara-Kabba people. The disc in the upper lip
was 3 inches in diameter, and that in the lower 6 inches.
What appears to us most unspeakably ugly — can it be to
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From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
them beautiful ? These ornaments restrain the wearers from
prolonged conversation.
The Sara-Kabba people were the original inhabitants of the
Shari Valley. They must have formed at one time one of
the largest nations of Africa, for, after centuries of being
harassed by Moslem slave-raiders, and after the wars of half
a millennium, there are still a million or two left of them.
The Fulanis of Adamawa built the Hanyan Yaki (war road)
into their land. The Bagirmi people used to have a regular
hunting season, when the warriors of that Moslem kingdom
used to invade the Sara-Kabba country, like the English
invade the Scotch Highlands in August, only that in this
case the hunted were not grouse and partridges, but human
beings. And in the latter days Sinussi has played havoc with
a number of their eastern districts.
One of the Sara-Kabba chiefs, when I enquired from him
the reason why they disfigured their women, informed me
that their forefathers had developed this habit in order that
their women might exercise no attractions for the Moslem
slave raiders.
The Sara-Kabba have withdrawn themselves from the roads
and the Shari river, and most of their villages are hidden away
in the swamps and on the banks of the Aukadebbe, They
are as shy as — nay, they are very much more shy than — the
game in the bush.
When coming suddenly upon one of their villages one day
I heard shrieks, a rush, a rustling in the grass, and there was
silence ; the population of the village had decamped.
I made myself at home, but informed my carriers and
followers that they would " sha wohalla dayawa " (drink
plenty of trouble) if they touched any of the things belonging
to the natives ; and with the exception of a water-pot or two
that was broken, no harm was done.
The next morning we continued our march. I dispatched
156
Into the Unknown.
the caravan with a guide in front and only held back two of
the carriers, one with a bale of cloth, another with a box
of beads. The loads were opened, I tore off a piece of blue
cloth of some 20 yards, put a few handfuls of beads on it
and deposited it as a present on a mat under the palaver
tree of the village. My two carriers took up their loads,
and I rode after them as the last man.
VILLAGERS OF THE SARA-KABB.A.
I expected we were watched all the time, and turning round
on my horse I saw black shadows flitting from tree to tree
into the village.
The next Sara-Kabba settlement we arrived at on the same
day we found inhabited by people, and not only so, but the
chief came out to welcome the white man who had not tried
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From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
to catch the people, who had not burned the village in which
he slept, but who had left cloth and beads behind as presents.
" Lu-lu-lu-lu ! " " Welcome ! white man. Welcome ! white
man " — at least I suppose that is what their noisy welcome
meant. There was much clapping of hands, and broad smiles
on the faces of the bush people. They brought food for which
we paid ; when we departed we were escorted by a crowd
to the next village, and thus on till we left their land,
I had been warned that I might have to fight my way
through this people, but I found that the Golden Rule worked
with bushmen almost better than in the West End of London.
" Do unto others as you would that others should do to you."
The nearer to nature people live, the more they obey
natural laws. What one calls into a wood one gets as the
echo back, weaker sometimes, but still the same word. Peace
and friendliness, other things being equal, will beget peace
and friendliness.
The French Government is doing its level best to protect
the pagan natives in the Shari Valley, and a better future
lies ahead for the Sara-Kabba people.
At Ngodjo we found an empty camp of some 20 huts
made by Mecca pilgrims. We had met with such camps —
usually about 15 miles apart — every day since leaving Fort
Archambault. One of the fattest of my oxen died at this
place. There seemed to be no reason why he should. He
was perfectly well until late in the afternoon ; then he
began to tremble, his temperature rose considerably, he
foamed at the mouth, and within a comparatively short time
was dead. My cattle people attributed the death of the
beast to evil spirits. They knew of no disease that would
kill an animal in so short a time in the manner in which it
expired.
During the late afternoon I shot five antelope, thus
securing plenty of food for all my men. It is wonderful
158
Into the Unknown.
what the natives of Central Africa can demolish at a meal.
Here was an ox and five large antelopes, and in a day or two
not a scrap of meat was left.
The old chief in his French woollen sweater and blue knee-
breeches, was a most obliging gentleman, who did all he
could to please us. Two of his men were veritable giants,
one being 6 feet 7 inches and the other 6 feet 8 inches. To
watch those braves glide through the tall grass with their
wonderful long strides, leaping over or through the bushes,
was worth seeing. Without any exertion they ran down
one of my wounded antelopes and brought it into camp.
The people of the little village kept goats, sheep and chickens,
and they grew millet, maize and pumpkins. Within a mile
of the village there were giraffe, water hog, hartebeest, water-
buck, hyena, and guinea-fowl, and an abundance of other
animals.
All day Monday the sky was cloudy, but it did not rain
until late in the afternoon, when a terrific tornado broke over
us, which continued all night. Two more soldiers and several
natives, who had been following us from Fort Archambault,
joined our caravan the next day when we left the village.
The path was becoming impassable, all the oxen fell with the
exception of two, and threw their loads into the swamp.
Beds, foodstuffs, everything wet again, with little chance of
drying them. We were by turns soused with the rain and
broiled by the sun.
The rainy season is certainly not the time in which I would
advise people to cross the Sudan. What a difference the
two months wasted at Fort Archambault would have made.
Things were being ruined at a great rate now. Clothes, boots,
tent, were getting into a very bad state. The oxen grew
leaner, but my men were as merry as ever. Only the Mecca
pilgrims were very thin, and in spite of the meat, still looked
hungry. I shot two more hartebeest that morning and gave
159
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
them to the pilgrims. One of the latter I saw one evening
go up to my horse when it was eating guinea-corn and look
hungrily on, while it was munching. I would have liked to
have given all the corn to the pilgrims, but then my horses
would have died had they not been fed, and the men could
manage with meat.
There must be some good in a devotion that will undertake
such pilgrimages. Surely the All-Father rewards according
as we live up to the knowledge He has given, or the lack of
knowledge He has permitted. The piety of these good people
stands a permanent monument. Many of them will never
see their far-off homes again. They seemed so pleased when
I agreed to their coming with us to the Nile. The white man
is becoming a passport.
One thing that astonished me greatly was the informa-
tion given to me that the German Government in Adamawa
is levying taxes on pilgrims. That should not be. To avoid
these taxes the caravan with me travelled from Nigeria right
round the north end of Fake Chad, through Bornu, Kanem,
Bagirmi, and then up the Shari. They had spent three
months to reach a point which was within 20 days journey by
the direct route.
To let the natives of Central Africa suffer on account of
European political differences is surely a mistake. It would
be a great advance if the European Protectorates of Central
Africa could come to an understanding, and agree to have
a common law and a common policy of administration, thus
showing Europe the way,
" Till the war-drum throbs no longer, and the battle-flags are furled —
In the Parliament of mankind, the Federation of the world."
Our next halt was a village of seven huts called Kobana.
The many days of rain were beginning to tell on my health.
I felt tired and my head ached. The men lighted some
160
Into the Unknown.
20 fires and lively chatter sounded all round. The oxen were
still growing thinner and most of them had sore backs in
spite of every precaution.
I rose before dawn and was ready to start at 6.30,
next morning, when rain began, I decided to keep my loads
as dry as I could, and therefore waited until the storm was
over. All the fires were swamped by the rain. The land
became a lake. My people managed to stow themselves
away into the seven huts, and in spite of the roaring thunder
and glaring lightning talked contentedly. I was told that
the distance to be covered that day was only 10 kilometres,
so there was no hurry ; and I delayed my departure until the
sun should come out again in the afternoon. When we arrived
at the first farm belonging to this village the previous afternoon
I had noticed that a herd of elephants had paid it a visit
during the night. Would that another herd of elephants
might come to visit me ! More ivory would help to pay
expenses and all the meat I could get would be most acceptable
to my men. If only it had been possible to bring home all
the heads and skins of the animals I had shot, what a
wonderful collection I should have.
At mid-day the rain ceased, and we resumed our march.
Silently we pushed our way through the guinea-corn and
reached the edge of the grass, which was somewhat shorter
than usual. I noticed an animal about 3 feet high galloping
away from me, its tail high in the air. Here evidently was the
first lion, and a splendid beast. I was off my horse in no
time, my helmet dropped down on the other side, and, rifle
in hand, I ran forward until I saw it standing 150 yards away
in front of a clump of bush and long grass.
I could only see the form of the animal, and the black tuft
of the tail swishing hither and thither. The position seemed
all right to place a shot forward into the shoulder, and so I
let him have it. Down he came without a sound or further
161 M
r>om Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
movement. Still, I hesitated somewhat to go right up to
the lion, and went round the place in a large circle where I
had seen him last, but could find no spoor that led away.
There was no tree whence to survey the lie of the land, not
even an ant-hill. The ground was so sterile, that nothing would
grow, not even ants, and with the exception of the little patch
of dense grass where my beast had disappeared all was open,
stony ground. There seemed nothing to do but to walk
up to the place where the lion had gone down. I had my
rifle and revolver handy and went forward. 50 yards — 30
yards — 10 yards — hallo ! there was the beast, lying still,
but what a wonderful black lion ! I hastened u"p to the animal
and found it— a porker— an exceptionally large wart hog.
In unutterable disgust I turned away, from it. What a sell
to take a wart hog for a lion !
The road was no road, but a swamp. At 4 p.m. we got
to the village of Ganda, inhabited by one man and his family.
Once more rain began. M}^ poor boys had not been dry for
days, and sleeping in wet cover cloths and wet blankets cannot
surelv be conducive to good health.
Another Mecca pilgrim came to join my caravan. He had
been left behind at this place two months previously in a
dying condition, but had recovered and now desired to con-
tinue his journey with us. He was a Fulah and offered to
act as herdsman for the cattle when in camp. He proved a lazy
individual. When food was given out, he was the first, but
when it meant gathering grass fodder for the oxen or horses
he was always the last. He was a man who believed in no
work between meals.
Next day, with the road still as bad as bad could be, we
went on towards the River Ba, the chief proprietor and inhabi-
tant of the village acting as guide. The banks of the river
were graced with gallery forest, behind which stretched a
two-mile-wide fadama, and after that the bush. Once more
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Into the Unknown.
I was enabled to secure a fair supply of meat for my people.
I shot in the morning a large water-buck, and a reed-buck,
and later on while the people were crossing the river, I added
two hippos to our stock.
Before us lay a stretch of uninhabited bush some 80 or
100 miles in width ere we could hope to reach the next village,
and the men were glad to prepare the meat for the journey.
We therefore camped on the east bank of the Ba River, and
by mid-day some 50 iires were blazing up to dry the meat.
The Ba River is 100 yards wide, 4 feet deep, and flows
from west-north-west to south-south-east. Another ox
died during the afternoon and live others had fever. It
appeared that most of them had been bitten by tsetse fly
on their way from Milfi, where they were bought, to Fort
Archambault,
We came across many traces of elephants during the
morning. There must be large herds of them still in the
Shari basin. I myself had crossed the spoor of at least 500
of them in the neighbourhood of Fort Archambault and on
my way to the Ba River. I cannot be far wrong in esti-
mating that in the Shari Valley there are at least some 10,000
elephants, and this would make it one of the greatest elephant
countries in the world.
In the evening I had a special confab with mj' men. I
asked them whether they would be willing to carry my loads
to Egypt should the cattle die. All volunteered without
hesitation. They are often foolish and forgetful, still they
are willing children.
At 7 o'clock the next morning we went on again. Another
ox died and several were very sick. It looked as if my road was
going to be a skeleton road too, but as long as I did not lose
my men I did not mind. Four of my own Hausas took up
loads again. Yesterday's bright sunshine had dried the road,
and things looked more promising.
163 M 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
England is bad enough in the rains, but Central Africa in
the rainy season is, I am tempted to say, beastly. It is
killing all my animals as it has killed and is kilhng the slaves
of ]\Iecca pilgrim caravans.
Africa is a land of extremes. In some places there is too
much water, and in others too little ; it boasts the biggest
swamp and the greatest desert. At one period of the year
people seldom get dry, and at another they die of thirst.
The inky blackness which sometimes covers the usually
brilliant blue sky is such as one never sees in a temperate
zone. Central Africa is very intemperate. It is alive with
giant game and microscopic insects ; it is filled with elephants,
hippos, rhinos, lions — at least this part of Africa is — and also
full of miasma, microbes, mosquitoes, tsetse and other little
horrors. In Africa we have the smallest people, the pigmies,
and in Africa there are also the tallest people, the Dinkas and
Shilluks.
In this continent of sunshine, we have the proverbially
darkest nights (Egyptian darkness). In Africa we have the
oldest civilisation and the most uncivilised savages.
One more ox dropped on the road, and five were in a very
poor state of health.
There were many hartebeest about and several small
buck, and plenty of spoor of buffalo and giraffe. We camped
that night in the bush. In the morning another ox remained
behind, and so on until the bitter end. I had to carry food
for my men and horses, otherwise we could have saved a
good many loads and gone over the ground at a much
quicker rate. Our way lay through bush and open forest.
At 10 a.m. we came to a number of royal palms, and some
very large trees inhabited by black and white monkeys
(Colobus), parrots, and paroquets, the screams and screeches
of which were quite a change from the usual silence of
the bush. A number of large moths came round our camp
164
Into the Unknown.
fires night after night and committed suicide in the flames.
I therefore had a couple of butterfly nets prepared from
spare mosquito netting, and we captured quite a few, adding
them to the collection of Lepidoptera I had begun at Fort
Archambault.
At mid-day we passed the first iron-stone rocks since leaving
the barrier of the Nilim hills on the Shark These rocks are of
ancient formation, and usually appear in the form of flat
shelves. We found here a large pool with a considerable
amount of water, and a number of huts. Bornu traders,
accompanied by several Sinussi soldiers, were camped at
the place on their return journey from Ndele.
Half-an-hour later we came to a palm kunni, a narrow
valley of virgin forest containing a large number of
magnificent palms, and just after noon we were at our
camping place. Som^e 20 huts formed rough shelters, and
these were soon improved by the men. All my oxen had
fever, so had I. Africa was getting on my nerves. Several
of my men had sore feet, and the boys were becoming very
stupid and negligent. In spite of remonstrances my water
bottles were regularly filled with unboiled and unfiltered
water, my cooking pots were in a filthy condition, and what-
ever the boys laid their hands on was ruined in a few hours.
I had my first dose of fever. This was probably the reason
that things looked so black. True, my temperature only
rose about one degree, but the reahsation that I should
have to look for regular attacks in the future made me sick.
I continue to quote from my diary.
The bush was alive with tsetse fly, but otherwise we had
reached a gameless country.
Left at 6.30 next morning ; had still a httle fever, but
took six grains of quinine, a good dose of castor oil, and
started on miy journey.
The road was good at first, winding now towards the south,
165
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
now towards the east. At 9.30 we approached a consider-
able village, but before reaching it we turned to the east and
took the shorter, and I was told, the easier road to Ndele.
The other path was said to be impassable for cattle. Our
way, which was supposed to be easy, was difficult enough,
leading through rocks up hill and down hill. We rested for
a while on the bank of a beautiful clear stream, running from
east to west, half-a-foot in depth, and 3 yards wide ; and
after that cut our way through dense forest.
(Here I left off writing for two days, as my temperature
rose and I became somewhat lightheaded, but I filled events in
afterwards.)
We had passed a dense palm kurmi at 11.30, and camped
close to it on the other side, clearing the ground and building
some 20 huts. I spent a sleepless night with fever, and there
was rain from sunset to sunrise. Fever in the bush is no
pleasure.
Next day I marched on in spite of fever. I tried to walk it
off, and it seemed as if 1 succeeded, for after three hours'
walk through the sun on my arrival at the first Sinussi village
of Mungo, I found my temperature not higher than when I
started. The chief of the village who, like all the Sinussis,
is a fanatical Mohammedan, appeared at first most insolent,
but as T took no notice of him, he found his m.anners after a
^^'hile. Mungo is a village of 10 families. Water was at a
long distance and food scarce. On Tuesday I took my day
of rest. The village chief refused to supply us with pro-
visions in spite of the presents of cloth I had given him. The
white men, who are all known here as Christians, are hated
b}' the people, whose great recreation consists in hunting
slaves. Since the fall of Wadai they have become afraid
of the white man, otherwise I think I should have encountered
grave difficulties here.
I had now entered the last game preserve of the slave
166
Into the Unknown.
raiders in Africa, for since Wadai has fallen, Sinussi's country
is their last happy hunting ground.
On Wednesday, July 27th, we left Mungo. I had still some
fever about me, but hoped that physical exertion would drive
it away. We began our journey by losing our way, and
found ourselves, after an hour's march, in the pathless bush.
We had to return and then, going in a south-easterly direction,
after a while found the right path. Two brooks, each some
six feet wide and two feet deep, with steep banks, gave con-
siderable difficulties to our oxen. All loads had to be taken
off and carried across, and the animals reloaded on the other
side. Just after mid-day we reached a rocky cliaur. I had
ridden ahead of my people and decided to wait here for them.
I would have camped had there been water, but before we
had been at the place for half an hour, we had water in abun-
dance. It rained in torrents. A rushing river went roaring
down through the iron-stone barriers of the chaur falling in
large cascades into the gorge beneath. We pitched the tent
in the rain, built several huts of bamboo sticks, bamboo
being the only wood available, and then lit fires.
The next morning we were up and away again, passed
several deep ravines, and then surmounted two hills, each
about 300 feet high. At 8.30 we passed an old camp which we
had intended to reach the previous da}^ At mid-day we
halted by the side of a considerable swamp, but there was
nothing much to eat as our food supply was finished. Another
hour and a half and I could go no further. A terrible headache
and rising temperature made me feel as if I were going out
of my mind. I ralhed during the morning and continued
the march towards Ndele.
When the line of march had been formed and the cleanest
clothes, though soaking wet, had been donned by my boys
and braves, the caravan presented quite a respectable and
picturesque appearance. First came Osman, the Corporal
167
From Hausaland to Egypt, ihrough the Sudan.
of my soldiers, with the French tricolour, as we were then
traveUing through the French sphere of influence. This flag
had been presented to me by the French Resident at Fort
Archambault. After Osman came two French guards dressed
in the garb of the troops of the Shari-Chad Protectorate.
After that I followed on horse-back, and behind me Dan
with the Union Jack, two more soldiers and my personal
boys dressed in white and red, which showed off well against
the blue-black of the soldiers. After the boys came one of
the headmen in a broad-brimmed hat, long flowing robes
and a Hausa cross-sword hanging from his sash ; after him
a line of carriers, then the oxen, then my chief headman,
the Hausa pilgrims, and a couple of French soldiers closed the
line.
What our reception might be in Sinussi's capital Ndele, I
knew not, as I had been warned repeatedly by French Govern-
ment men in the Shari Valley of the danger of entering Sinussi's
realm. What our reception actually was, the next chapter
will show.
Into the Unknown.
MARCH TIMES.
Fort Archambault
2 hours
9 km.
Sello
5 hours
25 km.
Ngore
3 hours
15 km.
Komsenga
2h hours
I2i km.
Konodobbo
3 hours
15 km.
Bongobolo
6 hours
30 km.
Bushcamp
2^ hours
I2i km.
Ngodjo
51 hours
25 km.
Kobana
2i hours
I2| km.
Ganda
3 hours
15 km.
I Bush camp
(Bar river)
5^ hours
275 km.
2 Bush camp
5^ hours
27I km.
3 Bush camp
5 hours
25 km.
4 Bush camp i
(Endoka)
Chief Nd
ingi
3 hours
15 km.
Mondo
5 hours
25 km.
I Bush camp
6 hours
30 km.
2 Bush camp
5 hours
25 km.
Ndele.
Whole march 70 hours or 346^ km.
The distance covered may be a httle over-estimated.
Information was secured at Fort Archambault, June 2nd, 1909, from a
Mecca pilgrim from Katagum Osman and verified several time's.
From Ndele Sinussi, situated in mountains, it is
6 days to Duvas, passing 2 rivers, then
I day to Gula,
5 days to Min Gella,
il| days to Min Andal,
I day to Kefifi Genji (Mahmur).
24J
169
CHAPTER XIII.
In Terra Incognita.
Sinussi — Music Has Charms — Calling on Sinussi — The Sinussi Movement —
Farewell — Lost on the Road to the Congo— Slave Villages -A Wet
Camp — Lazy Hausas — Bush Camp — Elephants — Bad Luck — Mid-day
Lightning — An Improvised Ferry — Tsetse— Donkey Submarines —
Driver Ants at Play — -The Wealth of Wadda — Wading through
Swamps — Raymond Rock — Alfred Rocks.
Ndele at an altitude of 1,550 feet is a town of 8,000 to
10,000 people.* The houses are scattered through several
small valleys, some hidden among the rocks, some on the slopes
and some on the hilltops. The four important compounds
of the Ndele are, the French Residency on Government Hill,
a station of a French Trading Company, the large walled
compound of the Sultan, and the smaller one of his son.
Fifteen years ago Sinussi and his people inhabited
a district considerably north of Ndele. They were attacked
by the Sultan of Wadai. The mother of Sinussi, two of his
sisters, two of his sons, and many of his people w'ere killed,
while he himself, with the remnant of his followers, fled to
the south and built Ndele.
He manoeuvred his little State through the Bagirmi wars,
through the Rabba fights, and the troubles in the Nile Valley,
which terminated the existence of so many Sultanates of the
Central Sudan. He grew rich in black and white ivory, and
sedulously set himself to work to arm his people with modern
rifles. He is now reported, according to information from
the French Government representative at Ndele (Lieut.
Raymond), to have some 5,000 fire-arms.
* Notes written at Ndele, the capital of Sinussi.
170
In Terra Incognita.
About 40 villages belong to Sinussi, mostly inhabited by
slaves with a few armed Arabs to keep order. Razzias (i.e.,
slave raids) into the surrounding cannibal country are of
very common occurrence. Slaves are still traded into Darfur,
and are taken b)^ pilgrims to Mecca and sold there.
Sinussi, so I am told, was the first important chief of the Central
NDELE
the Capital of
SINUSSI.
Sudan to ask for French protection. Two of Sinussi's men went
in 1900 with Colonel Monteille on an embassy to France.
Three Treaties have been signed by tlie President of the
French Republic and Sinussi. Through these Sinussi has
secured all he could have asked for. He has been given
a territory about the size of France, and pays a small tribute,
171
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
for which the French Government gives him annual equiva-
lents. He has received presents of a cannon and a number
of good French fire-arms, and is allowed to do practically
what he likes.
He is wise, and seems willing to make friends with white
men, especially since Wadai has fallen.
On Sunday, July 31st, Sinussi with a large number of his
followers came to call on me. When he approached the
SULTAN SINUSSI OF NDELE.
French Government Post where we were encamped, the well-
made road from his palace was crowded M'ith people. With
much drumming he rode up our Httle hill, dismounted,
and with considerable agility walked up the verandah of the
three-roomed mud hut. Three chairs had been placed for his
reception ; one for the representative of the French Govern-
ment, one for Sinussi, and my own old green deck chair for
myself. Lieut. Raymond, who was the proud possessor
172
In Terra Incoonita.
of two gramophones, turned on the latest French Army
marches, stirring mihtary music. Our visitor asked to have
them repeated several times, and a half-smile flitted over
his features. The inky black eyes of the great Chief, when
turned on some of my headmen and personal boj-s looked as
if they might drill holes through them. A lord and leader
of men, I could see, sat by my side, who during the last 12
years, in devastating the regions surrounding his territory,
has shown that the lives of men and women are to him but
as dust under the soles of his feet, to be trodden down or
scattered at will. He is about 55 years old, and seems to be
implicitly obeyed b}^ his people.
On Saturday, August 5th, I paid him a return visit, well-
mounted on my sprightly " Flying Fox," followed by an inter-
preter and my headman also on horseback, with Lieut. Ray-
mond by my side also mounted, and a crowd of followers
from our camp. We descended into the valley and passed the
open market-place with its busy multitudes — women of many
nations, men with their rifles slung over their backs, sheep and
goats, chickens and babies in artistic profusion. We crossed
a little brook by a newly-made bridge, where dozens of men
were still employed in clearing the road for us, and climbed
by a zig-zag path up the rocky slope. Leaving the French
trading post to the left, and the house of the heir-apparent,
the eldest son of the chief, to the right, we dismounted at
the gate of the Sultan's palace.
Lender a large wild fig tree the Court had assembled to
welcome us, and after repeated hand-shakes the chief himself
led us through a large open mud porch, guarded by a French
field gun, to the audience chamber.
A number of magnificent Persian rugs covered the mud floor.
We w^ere installed in iron rocking chairs, and the rich wild
smell of sandal wood and oriental scents filled the atmosphere.
Sinussi appeared to possess considerable wealth for an African.
173
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Half-an-hoiir's conversation about Gordon College in Khar-
tum, of which he had heard, and to which he told me he
wished to send his two youngest sons ; about the railroad
from Egypt to Khartum, and the new railway to Medina,
as well as the steamer connections between Wan and Khartum,
he seemed tlioroughly to enjoy. The newest wonder in
modern travelling — airships — he discussed with unexpected
appreciation and intelligence. His house, built three-
quarters up a steep gorge between rocks, is a flat-roofed
building, part of it constructed of mud and part of it of stone.
Surrounded by a high thick mud wall, it holds the large
family of this powerful Central African vSultan.
On the advice of Sinussi, I changed my route, and instead
of going by way of Duwas and Min-Andal, I went via Wadda
and Katwaka.
Sinussi insisted that the other road was impassable ou
account of the swollen rivers.
VILLAGES BELONGING TO SINUSSI.
I. Bagga.
20. Muka.
2. Dumga.
21. j\lija.
3. Gidda.
22. Mija-Gudu.
4. Dun-Jango.
23. Mija-Sundre
5. Gos-Amer.
24. Rindi.
6. Kubu-Sabun.
25. Shidi.
7. Korja.
26. Gilbidi.
8. Soro.
27. Mbolo.
9. Giri.
28. Wada.
10. Mila.
29. Gula.
II. Jekutu.
30. Zagga.
12. Kale.
31. Wu.
13. Mashoko.
32. Wawa.
14. Kru-Sulba.
2,2)- Kerfele.
15. Boro.
34. -Serwa.
16. Bul-Kinju.
35. Kolgon.
17. Ngardjem.
36. Tulu.
18. Bala.
y]. Lubu.
19. iMba.
38. Mongo.
174
In Terra Incognita.
The founder of the Mohammedan Brotherhood, " the
Sinussia," was Mohammed Ben-Ah-Es-Sinussi. He was born
in 1796 at ]\Iostaganem, studied at Fez, and in 1830 went on
a pilgrimage to Mecca. Here he founded his first school,
" The Sauwija " of Djebel-Abu-Koubeis, close to the holy
places. In 1850 Sidi Mohammed returned by way of Egypt
to the interior of Barbary, and estabhshed himself in the
Oasis of Jarbub, where his tomb may be found.
This was the signal for the Mohammedan attempt at pro-
selytising in Central Africa. In 1856 Sinussi sent an Embassy
to Constantinople and secured the abolition of Turkish taxes
for the miembers of the Brotherhood.
After the death of Sidi Mohammed, his son, Sidi-el-Mahdi,
who was born in 1844, succeeded him. In 1895 Sidi-el-Mahdi
fell out with the Turkish Government in Constantinople,
and to safeguard himself against any European influence,
he left Jarbub and established himself in the Oasis of Kufra.
A representative of the Brotherhood, Sidi Mohammed Sunni,
was sent on a commercial mission to Kanem, and the trade
between the Mediterranean and the Central African States,
Bornu, Bagirmi, Wadai and Darfur, was taken away from
the old route ]Murzuk-Tripoli, and directed to a new one
which led by way of Borku and Kufra to Bengazi. The Tri-
politan traders, who are nearly all members of the Sinussi
Brotherhood, did not object to this decision of the Mahdi.
The mysteries of the Sinussi movement have excited much
curiosity, and as the headquarters of this movement are
situated in parts that have not been explored by the white
man, many tales are told about the power and influence of
the Sinussi sect. The principles of the movement might
be stated briefly as follows : —
(a) Back to the Koran ;
(b) Let all the children learn the Koran by heart ;
(c) Propagate the faith of Mohammed ;
175
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
(d) Counteract European influence, without fighting, if
that may be.
One of the Sinussi Sheiks expressed himself some lo years
ago to me in Dachla, an Oasis in the Lybian Desert : " Let
the Europeans leave us alone, and we will leave them alone."
There is no cohesion in Central Africa between the various
Mohammedan sects at the present moment, and therefore a
fanatical rising might easily be localised, but the hatred of
the Rumis (Europeans) is common to nearly all the Moslems.
Sinussi-el-Mahdi died in Borku Tibesti in 1902, and as far
as we can gather, the Sinussi movement is to-day controlled
by a Sawija of Elders.
Sultan Sinussi of Ndele, who everywhere in the Sudan is
spoken of as the Sinussi, was formerly a trader in Darfur,
but he is no relation of the religious leader Sinussi. He
simply bears the title " Sinussi " in the same way that every
other follower of Sinussi, whether he is called Abdulla,
Mohammed, Ah, or Suleiman, adds, after his professed
adherence to the Sinussi movement, the word " Sinussi "
to his name and calls himself Abdulla Sinussi, Mohammed
Sinussi, Ali Sinussi, or Suleiman Sinussi, as the case may
be.
On Monday, August 9th, my caravan got under way again.
The remnants of my oxen I left in charge of the non-com-
missioned officer belonging to Lieut. Raymond's party who
remained behind with a guard at Ndele.
The Sultan and all his people were out to say farewell.
My following had assumed considerable proportions. Like
a large snake about a mile long it wound its way from the
Residency down into the valley below, and up through the
town of Ndele towards the Sultan's palace. Lieut. Raymond
and 20 of his guards were with me. These guards are levies
of the Shari-Chad Protectorate, while the tirailleurs are
Senegalese sharpshooters. The latter are exceedingly good
176
In Terra Incognita.
fighting men who have been brought from the French Western
Sudan by wa}^ of the Congo and the Shari to this territory.
There were some 20 or 30 carriers and camp followers wdth
the Lieutenant.
A French trader with 20 carriers had also joined us, then
came my carriers and people, the ^lecca pilgrims, and a guard
of Sinussi's men of some half-a-dozen armed with rifles.
Twenty others had gone ahead three days before to prepare
FRENCH POST AT NDELE.
our camping grounds as far as the village of Wadda, making
in all some 250 people.
The ascent into the bush plateau from the town was difficult,
boulders and brooks giving a good deal of trouble to our
horses. The road lay east-south-east.
We called the first halt in an open glade where, in the rocky
depressions, a good deal of clean water had accumulated,
177 N
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
and later on we three white men went ahead. Our good
trader told us he had gone by way of Wadda to the Congo,
and therefore knew the path. He promised to take us to the
first village in two hours. After two hours we found ourselves
lost in the bush on the road to the Congo. Just after leaving
the place where we rested, I noticed a road branching off to
the left and called the attention of some of my men to it,
but our good merchant seemed so sure of himself that we
followed him. The bush track was a new one that had
evidently been used by some 50 to 100 people the previous day.
Unfortunately these people were not our vanguard, but a
party of elephant hunters who had gone southwards to kill
game. At 3 o'clock we came to a considerable number of
bush shelters where people had camped the previous night.
Quite a number of fires were still burning, and immediately
afterwards we came upon the last of the elephant hunters,
who told us that we had gone out of our way and had passed
the village. I engaged one of them as a guide and turned
back. A thunder storm was threatening, and at 3.30
it came down in torrents just when we had the first huts of
the small slave village in sight.
The inhabitants of Sinussi's villages are practically all
slaves captured north, south, east and west of his territory,
where Sinussi has destroyed all the villages and surrounded
himself with a cordon of uninhabited bush some 100 or 200
miles in width.
At 4 o'clock we halted by the side of a little compound
of three huts and decided to camp. I had ridden on ahead.
Night fell before most of our people arrived. The rain ceased
at 5.30, and the evening came, but neither my tent nor the
loads with the food supply had reached us. At last the outer
roof of the tent appeared, and with some poles and branches
the men put this up. It was getting dark. Two of my loads
of guinea-corn for the men and horses never arrived at all.
178
In Terra Incognita.
The men who carried them, cattle Fulanis, had evidently
preferred to remain behind. This was most annoying, as
we were not over well-supplied with food. Before our start
PAGAN WOMEN, SHOWING CICATRICES OF THE BODY.
from Ndele there had been trouble with one of these Fulanis
who was on his way to Mecca, and who refused to take charge
of a couple of milk goats, or rather was squabbling with one of
179 N 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
my Hausa men whom I had put in charge of our cow. I had
told the Fulani to remain behind, and the other two with the
guinea-corn had evidently joined him.
Our camp at this village was a wretched one as it rained
most of the night. I was afraid that I was in for another
dose of fever, but fougfit it with hot drinks and quinine and
thus escaped. We were glad the next morning when the sun
rose and we could pack up and go. Close to the village,
\vithin a couple of hundred yards from where we had camped,
we had to cross a brook running north into the Bahr Auk.
The water was only 4^ feet deep, but the banks were swampy,
and the horses could not carry us across. Over half-an-hour
we spent here before we had all the people, animals and loads,
safely on the other side.
This day was the first on which I had to complain about
my Hausas. They were lazy. The week's rest and plenty
of food at Ndele had evidently not been conducive to a desire
for fast marching. The strongest men were the last, and
for the first and last time I had to ride behind and wake
them up.
About midday we reached the first camping place prepared
for us by our Sinussi vanguard. It was a fine place under
a number of large shady trees on the banks of a little brook
of crystal water. Lieut. Raymond had for the last two or
three days been troubled with his digestive organs and fever,
and he lay down immediately, but after a good dose of medicine
and a few hours' sleep, felt better in the evening.
Before our arrival in camp, we had crossed the fresh tracks
of a large herd of elephants that had been wandering about
in the bush as it seemed aimlessly. The first men of the
caravan had seen them, and I, therefore, decided to go back
and discover whether they were still in the neighbourhood.
I came up with them at half past two in the afternoon.
They were all around us but the grass was so tall we could
180
In Terra Incognita.
not see them. After much looking about, I noticed two little
beasts each about 9 feet in height some 20 yards off, but
their ivory was not worth having and I watched for a better
chance. In the meantime the two little ones had seen or heard
me and went off screaming. Several large animals that had
been discovered meanwhile by my boys slunk off too without
my being able to get a sight of them. The hunt seemed over,
for elephants disturbed by human beings usually run a long
way. I thought of going back to the tent, when close by
we heard elephants grunting. Another half hour's chase,
following the noise they were making through dense jungle
and grass 15 feet high, through a brook and swamp where
the trees up to a height of 20 feet were covered with mud,
as the elephants had just had their mid-day dip, and we came
up with two great giants am^bling along a rocky ridge on
somewhat more open ground about 50 yards off. One of
them was a great black bull, and the other almost the same
size, and mud-coloured after his bath. I thought I could make
sure of the first, but at the moment when I was ready to fire,
he turned away from me and went off at a run. I sent a bullet
after him but missed. The tusks of the second showed some
4 feet, and were therefore practically 5^^ feet in length. He
went on in the same direction. I sent four bullets into his
head, but he kept on flapping his ears and took no notice. Not
once did I see his face, and therefore was unable to try my
forehead shot. The hard-nosed bullets of a Winchester '405
drill such small holes, that if they do not touch a vital spot
so that the elephant falls immediately, he will be little the
worse for holes that can hardly be seen. Much disgusted
with myself I went back to camp.
A quiet, restful night made one feel fresh and contented
with the bright new day that dawned the next morning.
Yesterday's exhortation of my Hausas had evidently borne
fruit. They were now taking the lead and I could hardlv
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
keep np with them. Of the four brooks we passed in the
morning, the first two ran north and the second two south,
all flowing through deep kurmis. We were passing the water-
shed between the Shari and the Congo system. To my distress
our trail lay much further south than I intended to go, south-
east, east-south-east, south-east, and I was afraid that we
would probably emerge somewhere in the southern parts of
Bahr-el-Ghazal in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
Just after mid-day a magnificent display of thunder and
lightning threatened us with a drenching tornado, but we
were able to reach camp before it burst. Rain continued
till midnight. Next day, Thursday; the trail used by our
advance guard was nmch overgrown and difficult to find.
The rain of two days soon washes away the tracks and
straightens out the grass that may have been trampled
down. The first large bamboo jungle I had seen on this
journey we came to that morning. There were spoors of
elephants and many bush cows. In vain I pursued two of
the latter and had to be satisfied with a guinea fowl. Before
noon we crossed the Quira River and then another open
fadama on which we camped. A couple of large silk-cotton
trees gave grateful shade, and the newly-built huts looked
quite cheerful by the side of a clear brook some 2 feet deep and
2 feet wide. In the fadama itself where the ground was
swampy we found no game. Animal life, with the exception
of elephants and buffalo, seemed scarce. I had not seen an
antelope for man}^ days, but then, of course, the grass was
very high and formed an excellent shelter for the game.
Next day a dense fog covered the whole country and did
not rise until 8 a.m. To get through the grass and swamp
meant hard work.
At 8.30 a.m. we were at the Patta River, the banks of which
are for several hundred yards covered b}' dense gallery forest.
The Patta belongs to the Mobangi-Congo System and runs
182
In Terra Incoonita.
south-south-east. In May I was told it is 2|^ feet deep and 20
yards wide, but to-day the water extended on the western
side 50 yards into the forest and on the eastern bank for
200 yards, the river bed itself being 30 yards wide, and the
water somewhat over 5 feet deep. For 2^ hours we ferried
across, having stretched a couple of ropes over the deepest
part, and using my Canadian canoe as a ferry.
I rested till i o'clock and after that marched for another
two hours to our camp on the west bank of a ravine. There
was little water at this time, and there would probably be
none during the dry season. As there had been no rain
during the day the ground was dry and the night deliciously
warm. My grey pony died, and also the goats, maybe of tsetse
fly, maybe of some unknown disease. Our experiences the
next day were the same as on previous days. Multitudes
of elephant spoor crossed our path in every direction.
Thus day followed day. Open bush varied with park land,
and on the banks of the brooks were small fadamas. Here
and there bamboo jungles had taken the place of other
trees.
On Monday we came to the Bongu River. A French trader
from Wadda had sent on a good deal of food to meet us at
the Bongu Camp. As we approached the river, wide open
fadamas lay before us, a country where one would expect
large quantities of game. We only saw the spoor of a few
elephants and a water-buck, and in spite of our spending
three hours hunting for them, we found nothing. The
Bongu River, runs from north-west to south-east, is 30 yards
wide and 12 feet deep. Close to the banks there are 8 feet
of water racing like a mill stream. Several rapids and
cataracts makes the passage dangerous. The people ahead of
us had built some sort of a bridge, not a very stable affair,
but sufficient to get us across safely. The horses and donkeys
were swum, or rather hauled, across with ropes. The horses
1 8-,
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
and the cow swam all right, but the donkeys disappeared
in the water, and, as the Frenchman said, looked like sub-
marines. We managed to get them all across alive. The
ironstone had now changed to sandstone, basalt and grauwake.
The country was hilly and traversed by many little brooks
which made the scenery very picturesque. One was glad to
get for a while out of the monotony of the eternal bush
country and exchange it for meadows, open woods, and park
land.
At the last camp I was awakened at 3 a.m. by a terrible
uproar. It sounded as if the camp were attacked, but proved
in the end to be only a charge of driver ants that sent the
Lieutenant and the Trader into the bush in Adam's costume.
On Wednesday, August 15th, we arrived at Wadda. The
chief and all his people had come out to meet us. The}^
had been busily engaged for more than three days in building
a high road for our entrance. The chief of Wadda is a brother-
in-law of Sinussi, and acts as his deputy in that district.
We were received with great friendliness, and though the food
supply in the village was not as good as we had been led to
expect, yet the four days of rest improved the health of my
men and prepared them for the severer trials that were still
lying before us.
Mohammedu, the chief of Wadda, had come to welcome
us on our arrival, on that great treasure of any important
African chief, a very fat horse. He was clothed in large blue
woollen pants, and a blue woollen gown. He introduced us
to his little army of some 50 or 60 men drawn up in front
of his house in open square. The men were armed with
rifles, but very few of them of modern pattern. While Lieut.
Raymond camped in front of the chief's palace, I went out
to the little French trading post outside the village.
Wadda has about 1,000 inhabitants and is built on the
banks of the Peppi River flowing north-north-east to south-
In Terra Incognita.
south-west. Large sandstone boiilders with frequent caves
among them were close in the river, which at this time was
some 30 yards wide and 3 feet deep.
The altitude of Wadda is a little over 2,000 feet above sea
level. The people grow guinea-corn, maize, wheat, sweet
potatoes, manioc, &c. They have horses and donkeys, cattle,
sheep, ducks, chickens and pigeons, and seem, in fact, well
supplied with everything. The exports from the country
consist of ivory and rubber. Ivory is the most valuable asset
of those far-off regions at the present moment, and will
probably remain so for a number of years to come, as the
herds of elephants roaming in the otherwise uninhabited bush
are numerous, and their tusks exceptionally large. Two tusks
which I saw in the Shari valley weighed 187 lbs. and 192 lbs.
respectively, and were some 9 feet in length.
Sinussi has frequently sent caravans of 100 or 200 people
loaded with ivory into the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan to exchange
this ivory for cloth and other European trade goods. All
the ivory of this region is the private property of Sinussi,
and as the punishment for any smuggling is death, there is
very little of it.
We left Wadda on Monday, August 23rd, with a caravan of
about 150 people, and six horses. Some 20 or 30 men had been
sent on ahead to prepare our way and our camps as far as the
Kotto River. The French trader was going from Wadda
towards Mouka and the Mobangi ; while the Lieutenant
proposed to come with me and help to open this new road
to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. We crossed the Peppi torrent
which took about an hour, Mohammedu and all his people
accompanying us to the other side, and soon we began our
march eastward. Later we came to a little brook called
Balla Keki and a village called Bango Bale. The ground
was very rocky and of sandstone formation. Afterwards we
continued through open forest interspersed with glades.
185
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
During the whole afternoon it rained heavily. We had to
wade through a bad swamp out of which the Lieutenant's
horse and himself had to be rescued with some difficulty.
The Sinussi chief who accompanied us also measured his
length in the reeds.
Next morning, as a result of more or less continual rain
all night, we found the ground desperately wet. We passed
a swamp, and had some difficulty in getting to the other
side. An open fadama stretched towards the south-east. We
followed it for a while and then turned north-east. The
path was badly marked. We cut our own path, as the old one
led into a swamp, and our animals could not get through it.
Soon we found another fadama with another swamp in the
centre, and a foot and a half of water. Here we struck the
old path again. Large flat slabs of sandstone interchanged
with swampy ground. The path was crossed in all directions
by elephant spoor. The only marks we could go by now
were the trees blazed by our guides. They were all elephant
hunters and therefore at home in the bush. Coming to
another swamp the horses almost disappeared in it, but after
a quarter of an hour, we were across and found our camp
prepared on the other side. The warm sunshine during the
afternoon was most acceptable and all the things were turned
out to dry. They dried all right, but were soaked again later
on as it rained all night. We marched this day only four
hours.
Next day we crossed a brook running north to south falling
"in cascades over sandstone boulders. For a little while we
continued south-east amongst wild rock formations. After-
wards the bush became a jungle with multitudes of elephant
paths. The blazed trail made by our forerunners was almost
unrecognisable, but the 150 people with us made a difference.
Soon we reached the " Raymond " Rock, a mighty sand-
stone boulder some 400 feet high and covering two acres.
186
In Terra Incognita.
I named this sandstone rock after my companion Lieut.
Raymond. Here we rested half-an-hour.
We were here face to face with sandstone formation which,
hke promontories, stretched from the Central African Iron-
stone plateau towards the Sahara Desert. Similar peninsulas
of iron-stone may be found in the Western Sudan as well as
in the Eastern Sudan. They have probably formed the
barrier of an ocean that once washed up to the heart of the
continent.
To-day similar sandstone barriers hedge in the Mediter-
ranean on the south. They are in evidence at the mouth of
the Nile, in Tripoli, in Tunis and in Morocco. On one of my
journeys into the oasis of the Libyan Desert about half way
between the oases of Charga and Dachla I found coral deposits
which, contrary to the view held by many of our geographers
that the Sahara never formed part of an ocean, seems to
point to the fact that at least the Libyan Desert must at
one time have been covered by salt water. The corals
found by me are salt water corals probably of the Tertiary
period.
As we were resting on the Raymond Rock our view swept
over a vast sea of tropical bush, unrelieved by mountains
or human habitations. Like corn fields ripe unto harvest
that show the wave motion in the autumn wind, thus the tree-
tops of the almost endless forest fields bowed their heads
in the rhythmic cadence of ocean billows.
The descent from this rock was difficult for our horses.
Immediately afterwards we crossed a little brook, and then
passed through bamboo jungle. Five days' journeyings
like this, through bush and forest, past the Alfred rocks and a
ruined village, through swamps and brooks and swollen rivers ;
and on Saturday, August 28th, we came to the Mera rock
at a place where there was formerly a large village. One
of our guides, a slave of Sinussi, pointed out the place where
187
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
his hut had stood, and the place where his father had hved
who was killed in the slave raid.
In the early afternoon we crossed some half-a-dozen small
brooks and swamps, all the water running north-east into
the Kotto. Then we heard the roar of the Kotto River,
and we camped on its banks where our vanguard had just
begun to prepare the huts. Opposite to our camp lay
" Patience " Island, and in front of my tent some eight or ten
elephant high roads converged at a ford which was evidently
the crossing place of the tuskers. There was no rain that day
or the next day.
Here was a river before us, powerful, deep and rapid, which
had never yet been crossed by any white man. We had
trekked into the unknown, and were now face to face with the
first serious obstacle.
188
THROUGH SWAMPS AND BROOKS AND SWOLLEN RIVERS.
CHAPTER XIV.
The Bridging of the Kotto.
Bagirmi Raft — Patience Island — Tornado — Imprisoned on the Island —
Second Bridge — A Creeper Bridge — Across — Meat — Still Eastward
through the Rain — Soaked — Watershed between Nile and Congo —
Lion Spoor — Rain, but No Food — First Footprint of Man — Chary
Hunters — Almost a Fight.
" Hankali ! Han kali !
Stand clear ! ' '
The headman yelled as the mighty 500 years' old king of
the forest bowed his head to the east, as the branches whistled
through the air, and with the last cut of the axes, the trunk
gave way, crashing into the roaring torrent of the Kotto River.
For three days we had tried to bridge the river. At first
Lieut. Raymond, with about 100 men, had cut down logs,
carried them to the water's edge, and then endeavoured to
form a connection between our bank and an island in the
middle of the stream. He had failed. The river was too wide,
and the flow of water too rapid. The second attempt by
constructing a raft across did not succeed either, as the driest
logs of wood we could find in the forest were all too heavy,
and after a large and very weighty float had been constructed,
it sank to the level of the water and could carry but one man.
It would have taken weeks to get our caravan across with such
a contrivance.
The third attempt, which was a private one of Sinussi's
chief man who accompanied me, took the form of a Bagirmi
float made of dry grass and bundles of thin, dry sticks. This
was by far the best. Two ropes were stretched slanting
191
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
across the first branch of the river towards the island. The
Bagirmi float was comparatively small and could carry three
or four men. I tried to lead the way across, believing that
by holding on to the ropes the current of the river would
carr}' me towards the other side. I reached the middle of
the stream where the water flowed with terrific force. My
raft threatened to roll over, and it either meant parting with
the ropes, or parting with my float ; to keep both together was
impossible. I therefore let go the ropes and went sailing down
in the centre of the current towards some dangerous rocks
below. Two of my boys who had swum across to the island,
dived in and joined me on my float, and the three of us, paddling
as hard as we could with our hands, landed after a while
safely on the island.
Another attempt was made by the second in command of
Sinussi's men, but both ropes broke, and the man had to swim
ashore as the raft turned turtle. With difficulty the man was
saved, but the raft lost.
I had previously tried my small collapsible Canadian canoe,
but this was altogether too frail an affair for the Kotto, and
now we had come to our last hope, viz., to cut down the
largest tree on the brink of the river, throw it across, and
thus form a bridge. For a whole day the men had worked,
and now it had fallen, and with anxious eyes we watched
the last branches of the tree as they rose and fell with the
wash of the waves.
TL y almost reached across to Patience Island. There
seemed only a few inches of rushing white water between them
and the bank.
Four of my best swimmers soon stripped, and climbed
out on to the branches that rose from the river. Hand over
hand, they hauled themselves like monkeys from bough to
bough, until it seemed as if they could have stepped on to
the sand-bank of the island.
192
The Bridging of the Kotto.
But there was much water j^et to be crossed. With a leap
towards the shore the first man dived in, and swimming might
and main landed 20 yards below on the island.
A rope was now thrown across, axes followed the rope,
and the men followed the axes, and in a comparatively short
time, another large tree, growing on the island fell, to be linked
BRIDGING THE KOTTO.
with the branches of the first. Saplings and small trees
were now tied to the branches, and thus a temporary, though
somewhat unstable, bridge was built over the first branch
of the Kotto.
It was 6 o'clock in the evening. Rain was threatening
193 o
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
when we broke camp, and the whole of our caravan, men,
women and children, passed safely to the island. Fires soon
blazed up. The ground was cleared and a number of huts
arose. My tent was pitched, and when the rain and storm
came at 8 p.m., we were safe and dry, at least for the time
being.
With a feeling of comfort and content I listened to the
swish of the rain, and the whistling of the wind through the
grass and creepers outside the tent.
Hour after hour passed, and the storm increased in violence.
The electric discharges from streaks of lightning changed to
blinding sheets of flame, and the continuous deafening roar
of the thunder seemed to shake the ground beneath our feet.
The storm became a tornado, and the tornado a hurricane.
Thus the night passed, and when, with the grey grisly
morning I ventured out, the water had risen several feet on
both sides of the island. The bridge w^e had built the day
before was gone, and not only was our way ahead blocked,
but our retreat cut off, our food supply practically gone,
and a number of our people sick.
The outlook was of the sorriest. The shivering men sat
crouching round the remnants of the fires under their low grass
shelters. It seemed cruelty to haul them out and make them
work, but work was necessary if we did not want to starve
in this No-man's land. Up and down I walked the bank
of the second branch of the river, looking for another large
tree that might form a bridge, and after careful deliberation
decided on one, some 6 feet in diameter which stood half
in the water and half out. A number of large branches had
grown out of it on the side of the island. These I had lopped
off to ensure it falling in the right direction, and then placed
m}^ men in ten relays of six each with hatchets and axes.
Without a stop the chopping went on from dawn until mid-day
when the tree began to give, and with a crash of splintering
194
The Bridging of the Kotto.
wood, the great log sank into the water. It just reached about
half-way across the second branch of the river. Four of my
best swimmers were soon on the other side, and two hours
later a smaller tree fell, but the river carried it away. A
second tree, cut down on the island side, which was very long,
disappeared entirely in the river, and a third on the eastern
bank shared the fate of the first. There were no more trees
left on the east side, and darkness began to fall.
The fifth day on the Kotto, and the food all eaten ! Some
15 days of foodless bush and only the village of Wadda behind
us since we left Ndele, and at Wadda we had bought practically
all the food the people had.
Before us, unknown territory, which I estimated, if we did
succeed in reaching the first large town of the Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan, would require at least a seven days' journey. The
outlook was cheerless indeed ; about the most hopeless I
had ever had to face.
I scanned every tree on the island, but either they were
too heavy to move, or too small to reach across.
Under a large silk cotton tree on the north end of the island
I watched a parrot fly screaming away, when my attention
was attracted by some twelve strong strands of Liana creepers.
The creeper seemed about 40 or 50 yards in length, just the
length needed to connect the furthest branches of the tree
we had thrown into the water with the first tree on the bank
of the other side. In half-an-hour all the creepers had been
cut, and one after the other were sent across with ropes.
Bark strings secured the ends firmly, and by 7 o'clock in the
evening a connection, though a somewhat precarious one,
had been formed between the island and the eastern bank.
The creeper bridge hung low on the water, and the ropes
were toyed with by the higher waves. My men were tired out ;
they went to sleep whilst standing about. There was no
moon ; clouds covered the sky, and it was impossible to finish
195 o 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
the bridge during the night. With anxious eyes I watched
our day's work. If it rained during the night and the water
rose, the bridge would go. There were no more suitable trees,
no more creepers, no more food for the men, and no more
strength to work. If the water rose, the journey of life, for
most of us, would be finished.
Twice during a sleepless night I went down from my tent
to the water. The bridge still held, but storm clouds were
threatening. Hour after hour passed, and with the first
streak of dawn, all the men — there having been no need to
call them — were down at the bridge. The bridge still held,
was soon strengthened with ropes from the middle to the top
of the trees on the other side, thus lifting the centre of the bridge
out of the water. At 7 o'clock I went across, the women and
children followed, and then the men. My last two horses
were swum across with difficulty, but reached the bank
after some exciting capers.
Now for food ! where is food to be got ? Accompanied by
a Sinussi hunter, I went into the bush, where we had heard
lions roar during the night, in the hope of finding meat, and
I was not disappointed, for within a comparatively short
time, I succeeded in killing two buck — a reed-buck and a
cob.
When I came back I found the camp pitched, and there
was rejoicing indeed, for the greatest barrier that we antici-
pated in our road had been surmounted.
Still there was trial ahead, and when, with the next morning,
we set out again eastward, the continual rainfall of the night
and morning had not improved our going.
Drip, drip, drip.
Rain, water, mud and mire.
Mire, mud, water and rain.
My helmet became shapeless pulp ; not a thread of clothes
was dry ; all the boxes were clay coloured ; the bush path
196
The Bridging of the Kotto.
had turned into a brook ; the blades of the 12 feet long grass,
sharpened by the drenching water, cut like knives into one's
hands and arms.
Slowly our poor animals toiled onwards, climbing in and
out of elephant holes full of water. Every few steps my poor
beasts fell, and I tumbled off alternately, first on the right
and then on the left, into the ditch.
Now and then we came to places especially depressing,
where terra firma seemed far away in the deep mire.
The continuous splash of pelting raindrops with periodical
growls of thunder from a leaden sky, made one ask the
question, as elasticity and spirits went down with the
temperature of the outside man, " What in all the world did
I come to Central Africa for ? Why did I not stay at home
in my dry, warm rooms, by my cheerful fire, in comfortable
garments ? Why, indeed ? "
At first, we had some sort of elephant path, but latterly
we pushed our way with compass observations through the
unknown bush, over rocky hills, and mountains, and through
swollen streams.
All the provisions had gone. All the flour was eaten, and
we were yet some 200 miles from towns and posts that
appeared on the maps as British.
The lean, starved bodies of the mothers, with their milk-
less breasts, and the hungry, protruding eyes of the famished
babies, became a nightmare. I had given away all my food,
beginning with breakfast food ; then the rice went, then
the flour, and then the rest, and there was nothing left.
Let me give a few notes as I jotted them down at the
time : —
Friday, September ^rd. — Rise at 6 a.m. Rain still falling.
Leave 6.30. The ground terribly swampy. Several small
brooks have become racing streams. After having passed
through a swamp that has taken all the karifi (iron) — the
197
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan,
Hausa expression for strength — out of my horse, he goes down
with mc in a stream. I get off with a sound soaking. Think
of changing when the rain commences again. May as well
go on in my wet things. Wading through several small
rivers, all of them running west into the Kotto, I walk on
till II o'clock. The country is very hilly. Hills i,ooo feet
to 1,500 feet high. It rains all day. Rest in the rain from
II to 12.30. Continue up hill and down hill till 1.30. Rain
stops for a few minutes and we form camp. No sun ; no
glimpse of the blue sky all day. My boots are getting into
a very bad state. Rain during the night. Thank God we
are across the Kotto.
Thus day follows day. I have sent five men ahead in
the direction of Katwaka and Keffi Genji to purchase food
and come back on their own trail, which we intended to
follow. I had given them a compass, with directions and
instructions.
On the second day after leaving the Kotto we ascended
through hill country to a plateau land, out of which single
hills, between 1,000 and 2,000 feet in height, rise at frequent
intervals. The height of these hills is probably some 3,000
or 4,000 feet above sea level. The ground was covered with
bush, and here and there were thick jungle, high grass and
stretches of bamboo forest. Traces of elephants, buffaloes
and lions crossed our track repeatedly. On the third day
we lost the spoor of the five men we had sent ahead, continual
rain having obliterated them. Two hours we spent in hunt-
ing for it, and as the sun came out for a little while I improved
the delay by getting some of my things dried. Time w^as
precious, and so I decided to go straight on without troubling
about the spoor of the men ahead of us. In spite of all
attempts to secure fresh meat in following every spoor one
met, I got nothing during the days between the Kotto River
and Keffi Genji,
198
The Bridging of the Kotto.
One morning we heard a large lion grumbling not more than
100 yards away to the right. Without much difhculty I
found his spoor and followed it. It was the largest lion spoor
I had ever seen, and looked almost like the spoor of an
elephant, being deeply imprinted into the wet ground. He had
gone towards the south and I followed him for almost two
hours, but failed to come up with him. Another day I followed
the spoor of roan antelope. The animals seemed to be playing
with us and walking round us, but we could not see them
in the long grass, and, tired out, had to return to the caravan.
The entry that repeats itself in my diary almost every day
is the following : —
" Rain all day, and no food. Been out hunting twice and
seen nothing. Horses almost finished ; my boots are
finished ; I hope the journey will be finished soon. Could
not rest to-day ; the hungry children need food."
On the plateau rocks appear from time to time, and a good
deal of metal-bearing quartz shows under foot. The higher
hills and mountains lie to the north of us. We are now
surmounting the water-shed between the Shari, Congo and
Nile systems.
We had aimed for a town called Katwaka, marked on the
maps in very large type, and with it appear the names of two
explorers in print. We found the site and the ruins of some
huts, but no people.
On our arrival there I sent out two search parties to look
for traces of human beings up and down the Katwaka River.
They were away for three hours, and came back without
having seen any traces. It was now several weeks since
we had seen a human being not belonging to our caravan.
I shall not easily forget the wonder on the eyes of my
followers as we came upon the first footprints of hunters.
The native pathfinder who walked in front of me stooped to
the ground and picked up two cobs of maize corn. How
199
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
wonderful these two empty com cobs looked to us. The
hungry, grey, ashy faces of my people turned to smiles as
they gathered round these first earnests of approaching plenty.
For were not these two corn cobs proof we were approaching
the fields where these were grown, houses and homes, where
one might dry one's self ; and the land of corn and dura, of
pumpkins and pea-nuts, of sheep and fowls, these wonderful
luxuries that made life worth living ?
During the last week the men had eaten nothing but roots
from the bush or leaves from the trees, and had boiled and
roasted antelope skins on which they had previously slept.
Now all that would be over, left behind and forgotten.
The grave by the little brook we had dug two days before
to bur}^ the starved form of one of our Mecca pilgrims ; the
hungry eyes of the mothers and the famished cry of the babes
— all that would lie behind.
Have we not found these two corn cobs, and seen the foot-
prints of the hunters } It may only be an hour and we shall
be in the village, or it may be to-night, or at the latest to-
morrow. But we are near enough to inhabited country.
Now we shall get through all right .
I laid six of my best Sinussi hunters on the spoor, and
like hungry hounds they followed it at half trot. The spoor
was two days old and the rain had in many places obliterated
it. It was lost from time to time, but found again.
When it disappeared out spread the hunters — fan-like — •"
from the centre. A minute's search and a shrill note called
the caravan in the direction of the one who had found it.
On, on, soon we shall reach the village ; soon we shall see
the first heavy heads of the long-stalked guinea-corn ; soon
our hungry eyes shall be gladdened by the homes of human
beings.
It is two in the afternoon. The heat of the sun overhead
seems to make the tired feet heavier. The snake-hke line
The Bridging of the Kotto.
of the caravan becomes longer. Here and there men and
women he down, but we have no time to cheer them on and
make them follow as we did yesterday. They are so tired and
so weak, and some of them sick to death.
Three o'clock in the afternoon. I am walking behind my
horse, that has reached the end of its strength. Thirty of
my Sinussi men, with the Sinussi chief, are now ahead of me
running on the spoor.
Listen ! whatever is this ? Angry voices shouting in
Arabic. Voices that do not belong to my caravan. I get
on my horse, and with some difficulty put him into a gallop.
Fifty yards, a hundred yards, and I can see
— a camp. A strong zareba stockade with four huts inside
and
— the smell of roasting meat !
My thirty Sinussi men have taken shelter behind trees,
and have their rifles ready. Inside the zareba some ten or
twelve men are pointing their rifles at us, and are calling
out in Arabic,
" One step forward and we fire."
What a reception. Without taking notice of the threats of
the Zareba people, and telling my Sinussi men not to move,
and certainly not to shoot, I ride on towards the camp alone,
my bo}' with the Union Jack following.
I call out to our opponents, " Salaam aleikum," " Peace
with you," I point to the flag behind me and ask them whether
they know that " bandera " (flag) ; I tell them that we are
very many, but that we do not want to fight.
Are they British ? So are w^e.
On I ramble in the best Arabic I can produce. Slowly
their rifles are taken down. They see I am unarmed, and
that therefore their fear that we might represent one of the
Sinussi slave raids is unfounded.
Even here on the borders of the pathless forests, the white
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
man is respected as the powerful agent of peace and
justice.
On my enquiry for their leader, a tall man of ahout 40
years of age steps forward, leaves his rifle in the hands of one
of his men, and comes up to me.
" Where do you belong to ? " I ask him.
The answer comes, " To Malagere and Kefft Genji."
" What are you doing here ? "
" I am hunting and have shot a giraffe yesterday."
" Will you show me the way to Malagere ? My people are
starving and we come from the west, many days' journey.
If you show us the way, I will give you much cloth, and hand-
fuls of beads as well as silver. You need not be anxious
about your meat, for though we are starving, and I am afraid
some of the weaker are dying, yet we do not steal ; but if
you would sell us your meat, we will buy it from you."
Thus a bargain was struck. We formed our camp, bought
most of the meat the hunters had ; fed the starving ; sent back
the strongest to carry the faint-hearts into camp, not one of
whom was lost ; and — rested.
The fearful forest lay behind us, and the lands of Father
Nile ahead.
CHAPTER XV.
Into the Nile Region.
At Keffi Genji — The Mahmur's Prayer — The Caravan Diminished in Number
— Isa's Breakdown — Honey-Hunting — A Bad Ford — A Deserted Town
— The Arab River — The Kreish Pagans Converted to Islam — Tsetse —
Rain— Road Making — Crossing the Raja River — The First White
Man — Aulad Sheitan — Osman and the Mule — Dan and the Mule —
Crossing Rivers — An African Night Scene — Dem Ziber — Rest-Houses
— Nyam-Nyam Cannibals.
As an exception to the usual run of trans-African exploring
expeditions I neither experienced heart-stirring excitement
in traversing the unknown, nor can I refer to the proverbially
cool, stoical meeting with the first civilised man, after coming
out of the unexplored.
I had sent runners ahead to Keffi Genji to tell the Egyptian
Mahmur who represented the Government there, of my
arrival.
My Sinussi men, who had done such splendid work in the
bush, gave me some difficulty after we had reached inhabited
country. Some of the men who carried my loads, and the
armed soldiers, were evidently slaves of Sinussi, and their
chief was anxious to take them back with him, and not give
them a chance to escape. It is exceedingly difficult to find out
from the native whether he is a free man or a slave. All belong
to their chief. While slave raiding as carried on by the
Moslems from the north cannot be condemned in too severe
terms, the household slavery of the Sudan is an institution which
should be gradually removed in a similar way to that in which
it has been abolished in Egypt. With the cessation of slave
203
From Hausalaiid to Egypt, through the Sudan.
raiding and traffic in slaves, the value of the slave disappears
and he is practically free.
Another reason why the Sinussi chief may have been afraid
to come with us as far as Keffi Genji, though he had strict
injunctions from Sinussi himself to accompany me to that
place, may have been that his conscience accused him of
former misdeeds, and thus his intelligence warned him of a
punishment that might be in store for him at the Government
post. Be that as it may, I prevailed upon him and his people
to come to Keffi Genji and stay with me two days. After
I had supplied him with a considerable amount of food in
the shape of millet, guinea-corn, sheep and chickens, he left
again for the west, while I continued towards the east. Once
we had broken a high road through the bush from Ndele
to Keffi Genji, there was, of course, no difficulty in travelling
with considerable speed back the road we had come. It was
the opening of this road through the forest, swamp and grass,
that had presented such difficulties. A number of men
unencumbered by old people and children could, with com-
parative ease, get across the Kotto River again, making use of
the bridges we had built.
The Mahmur of Keffi Genji received me hospitably. He
came out to meet me mounted on a mule, and looking in his
Egyptian uniform much like a British officer. His move-
ments, his behaviour, his curt commands to his inferiors, his
hospitality, bore the imprint of British civilisation, but after an
hour or two with him, the native came to the surface. While
we were sitting at the luncheon table, he suddenly ordered
his boy to bring him a blanket and a wash-basin and without
informing me what he proposed to do, he took off his boots
and socks, washed his hands, face and feet, knelt down on his
blanket, and went through his form of prayer right in front
of me. Knowing the Egyptian well, and having lived in
Alexandria and Cairo for several years, I saw, of course, that
204
Into the Nile Region.
this prayer was simply for show, and it appeared to me on that
account most objectionable. Why could not the man, if
his time for prayer had come, though it certainly was not the
regulation hour just then, have gone into his private room
and there prayed?
During the afternoon a thunderstorm commenced, I had
invited Monsieur le Mahmur to take a cup of tea with me,
when the hghtning began. The poor man became much
disturbed and seemed uncomfortable, as I could see by his
movements and his face, and after a few moments of hesita-
tion he begged me to excuse him, saying that he would like' to
retire. He always went to bed when it thundered, as he
was much afraid of being struck by lightning. And yet this
same man, I doubt not, would without quailing, have faced
an enemy in open battle, but superstition and fear of the
forces of nature marked him as a true African.
On Wednesday, September 15th, my caravan was formed
again at Keffi Genji, though it had melted to much smaller
proportions. The Sinussi people had gone back, the Mecca
Pilgrim caravan desired to celebrate Ramadan (the month of
fasting) at Kefft Genji, and a number of my own Hausas
came to tell me that they were ill, sore-footed, and too tired
to go on ; so I added 18 new carriers to a number of my old men,
and paid off the rest, giving them 12 dollars each for the last
month's service. They had been paid at first every week-end,
but latterly monthly. To leave them atKeffi Genji was against
my wish, as I desired to take them to a larger town, such as
Raja, Wau or Khartum, but they felt they could not go on.
They wanted to go back with Sinussi's people to Ndele, from
thence to Fort Archambault, and then to Yola in Northern
Nigeria. Thus my caravan had melted down to about 35
people.
We went as far as Guku (four miles) during the afternoon,
and stayed there the night, a good mud house and a large
205
PVom Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
shady tree in front making the camp comfortable. There
was no rain during the night. My new headman had some
difficidty in getting the caravan into order. He is called
the " headman " of the caravan because he is always at the
tail-end bringing up the stragglers. This is another of the
multitudinous African contradictions.
My old headman Isa had also been left at Kefft Genji.
For a number of days he had suffered from fever and sore
feet. He wanted to come on with
me, but at the last moment found
that his strength was not suffi-
cient. He came to me on the
verandah, and sitting down in
front of me said, " Father, I can-
not go on," and as he said that
he bowed his head to the ground
and burst out crying. I was
much affected myself for he had
been honest and true, faithful
and trustworthy, strong and
helpful. I heard later on that
he and a number of my Hausas
had, after a few days rest at Keffi
Genji, followed on our route, and
would probably arrive at Wau a
day or two after my departure,
to enlist there with others of my
Hausas who had already done so
in the nth Sudanese Battalion.
On September i6th, at 6.30, we left Guku. The new
carriers took some time to get ready, but after they had started
the change in the rate of marching was most gratifying. They
went nearly all the time at half-trot, and the remnant of
my ^^Hausa boys and myself had considerable difficulty in
206
EGYPTIAN OFFICER OF THE
IITH SUDANESE BATTALION.
Into the Nile Region.
keeping up Nvith them. The country was undulating, the road
good. Two little brooks and a river called Geffo which we
crossed, ran in a northerly direction. The weather was very
hot in this low-lying countr}-, and when we reached Mirsal
Gabel, our destination for the day, a small village not far
from the hills, we were steaming with perspiration.
Slowly the men toiled onwards through the afternoon.
The level rays of the sun cast gigantic shadows of the trees
on the leaf-covered ground, and played with scintillating
light effects among the grotesque rocks on the right.
From time to time I heard the low whistling oi m}' hunters.
I had wondered at the same note being repeated again and
again, when three of them turned uphill and scrambling
through the rocks, chased each other up to a gnarled old trunk
of a forest tree. Out came flint and steel, a few dry bits of
grass were crushed and in a few seconds were ablaze.
Green leaves were added and dense clouds of smoke arose
and enveloped the old tree. Whatever were the men doing ?
One chopped away at a hole in the tree to widen it, and
then poked the handle of his tomahawk through the hole
into the heart of the trunk. The men who had stood around
me up to now left me quickly, dropped their loads and started
to race for the smoking tree, chanting as the\' went along
" Honey, sweet Honev ! The birds have brought us
honey."
Handfuls of waxen honey-combs were distributed, and
maggots, eggs and honey disappeared between the grinning
lips. Now and then one of the boys gave a yell, and flapping
his hands ran as some of the stupified bees came to life
again. If there had been half-a-dozen bees' nests instead
of one, there would have been a little for all my
people ; as it was, the stronger got the sweets, and
the weaker had to be satisfied with the smell of the
smoke.
207
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
It was explained to me later that the low whistle that had
drawn my attention, was the answer of my hunters to the note
of the honey-bird, a bird which always advertises the presence
of the bee-hives.
During the afternoon a thunderstorm threatened, but the
wind was north and the storm passed.
Next morning we waded through another small river running
north-east. The passage was very difficult for my horse, as
a number of large rocks formed waterfalls, rapids, and cascades,
but he got over at last to my great relief. Still our journey
was very far from being easy, big boulders obstructed the path
as we skirted several rocky hills on our right and on our
left. At noon we were at the village of Niama, where a number
of good rest-houses surrounded by guinea-corn fields were
built on the slope of the little hill.
From going east, we turned the next day southward, with
a little variation sometimes towards the east and sometimes
towards the west. During the morning we passed two small
rivers running east-north-east and several brooks running in
the same direction. The weather was cool, the sky cloudy,
the road good, and only in a few places swampy. There
were rocky hills on both sides, but nothing over i,ooo feet
above our level. The road had been much improved by the
natives. At 10.45 we were at Faragalla where we camped.
I was getting into country now that had been visited by one
or two white men in Government service, the result — a distinct
improvement in the road.
Next morning we passed the deserted town of Gaber, where
about 30 dilapidated huts and an abundance of wild farm
growth were lapsing into bush. The people have removed to
a new place some six miles further south ; a site which has
evidently appealed to them as being more desirable than their
former home. I camped with them there.
My old enemy, sleeplessness, had begun to trouble me again.
208
Into the Nile Region.
To be compelled to travel during the day, and then find no
sleep at night makes considerable inroads into one's strength.
When we re-commenced our march at 6 a.m. rain was still
falling and continued until about 9 o'clock. The grass was
high and soaking wet ; our road lay practically south
with a few degrees to the cast. Later in the morning w£
reached the Boro River, which, with the Bahr-Ada coming
from the Jellaba country, forms the Bahr-el-Arab.
The Bahr-el-Arab is the longest unexplored navigable
waterway in Africa, perhaps in the world ; it is between
600 and 700 miles in length, and flows through British terri-
tory, but it has never yet been navigated by a white man.
Gessi Pasha 35 years ago crossed the river twice. On page
296 of his book, " Seven years in the Sudan," he states that
when he approached the bed of the Bahr-el-Arab near Del-
gauna he crossed a valley which in the rainy season becomes
impassable. He saw an enormous quantity of game ; his men
killed three buffaloes, two giraffes, a wild boar and seven
antelopes.
During the rainy season the Arabs from Resegat, Shakka,
and Kalaka bring from the north more than 100,000 cattle
and sheep to feed on its banks. The Bahr-el-x\rab marks
the hmit separating Darfur from the Bahr-el-Ghazal province.
On page 330 of the same book Gessi Pasha states that in
August the water of the Bahr-el-Arab was deep and the breadth
of the river about 700 feet. Both shores were covered with
thick forest, containing many dulup trees. Again on page
391 Gessi Pasha says he saw from his steamer on the Bahr-el-
Ghazal in the distance the wooded shores of the Bahr-el-
Arab, but it would have taken four hours of uninterrupted
navigation to have reached them, and his way was blocked
by sudd. Lieut. Huntly Walsh, Resident at Raja, estimated
that some twelve miles of sudd closed the mouth of the
Bahr-el-Arab.
209 p
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
The Boro River, which runs eastward, is some 40 to 50
yards wide, its banks are steep and the water close to them
10 feet deep.
When leaving Northern Nigeria I had intended to cross
from the Shari to the Nile system by way of the Bahr-
Auk and the Bahr-el-Arab. At the mouth of the Bahr-Auk
it was the shallowness of the river that prevented me working
out the previous plans, and when at the head waters of the
Bahr-el-Arab my food supplies and means of transport were
reduced to such an extent that I was afraid to venture the
lives of my followers in the solution of the problem of the
navigability of this river.
A good canoe built out of a number of pieces of hard wood
well joined is used as a ferry, and a strong rope of lianas forms
the connection between the two banks of the Boro." My
horse, being far from strong, found great difficulty in getting
out of the water; and when at last he succeeded in climbing
up the bank, and put his nose under my arm and whinnied,
I felt as if an old friend of whose life I had despaired had been
given back to me.
On the south bank of the Boro lies the largest Kreish
village, called Naka. Its chief Said lives in an excellently
arranged compound. He is the chief of all the Kreish, formerly
an important pagan tribe, but now much decimated through
slave raiding.
Awhile ago Moslem Mecca pilgrims came to Naka, eager
to propagate their faith. The}^ preached to Chief Said, they
showed him how to pray, and instructed him in the ways of
the faithful, till the chief and his brother, proud of their holy
teacher, openly confessed their conversion to Islam. Now
they were fasting during Ramadan, proposed to go to Mecca,
and said their prayers like any other fully qualified Moslems.
Sultan Said of Naka showed himself m.ost hospitable during
the hour I spent with him.
Into the Nile Region.
The tsetse fly is a terrible pest in these western parts of
the Bahr-el-Ghazal province, and my horses had not escaped
its attentions ; in consequence of which I was afraid I should
lose " Flying Fox." Sultan Said told me he had lost 37
horses, so I cannot complain that I have lost seven. He
offered me his last stallion, an unsightly beast as compared
with my beauty, but strong enough to carry me to Wau.
I left " Flying Fox " with him and took his blind horse. In
the afternoon, I continued as far as Mariki, a large Banda
village. Its Sultan, belonging to the Adja Clan, founded
this place seven years ago and has gathered around him
about 1,000 people, nearly all of them fugitives from the
Sinussi territory. Everything looked prosperous and peace-
ful ; the clearing on which Mariki is built was at this time
one vast field of guinea-corn four miles in diameter. At
the south-eastern edge of the farms a deep and rapidly flowing
brook gave us considerable difficulty. Its channel was only
15 feet wide, but 10 feet deep, and we had to haul the horse
across with a rope. We were all becoming desperately tired of
trekking and longed to see the steamer at Wau — 14 days
more.
Next day we camped in a little village called Chammis.
Our reception was not over kind, but we made friends as we
went along.
On September 23rd, we started bright and early as usual,
rose at 5.30 and left at dawn, marching through pelting rain.
We reached a little village called Minangwe at 7.30 and
waited there until 8.30, when we thought the rain had rained
itself out. No such thing. It soon came down again in
torrents, continuing all the time until, passing a hill some
1,200 feet high, we got to a one man's place, called after him,
Hassan. Fires were lit in the two huts of which the village
consisted, and we began to dry our things.
I placed a tripod over the fire in my hut and smoked my
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
pith helmet, put a bench close to the fire and curled up on
it as near to the blaze as I could get, covering myself with
two camel-hair blankets, and then began to steam. I kept
at it till about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and after a meal
of sorts, consisting of tea and a very dry piece of bread, I was
ready to go on.
We left amid bright sunshine, and, spirits as well as bodies
less damp now, we marched on till sunset. Then we camped
on the west bank of a brook some 12 feet wide and 4 feet deep.
It only took half-an-hour to form camp, pitch the tent, gather
wood and light the fires.
As it was late the men did not build huts, and as a conse-
quence got drenched by heavy rain during the night. Things
looked very miserable in the morning, as soaked and sad we
stolidly tramped through several small brooks and reached
Chaur Mirapira at 8.30. This Chaur, as it is called by the
natives, is not a chaur, but a small river 35 feet wide by
3 feet deep, running south. All the morning we continued
with little rest till in the afternoon we reached the small village
of Ngolo tired out, after having passed through some exceed-
ingly long grass.
Last year, in obedience to the white man's command, a
lane had been cut by the natives through the bush, and the
grass cleared away to make some sort of a road. As a conse-
quence of the ground being thus disturbed, the grass had
sprung up to a phenomenal height, and the former road was
marked by the tallest grass.
The welcome the chief gave us at Ngolo was not altogether
what might have been desired, as it included the information
that between his village and Raja, where I hoped to see the
first white man, there were two impassable rivers, and, though
the distance was only five miles — less than an hour and a-half's
march — it would be no use to attempt it that afternoon.
Once more I was face to face with " It can't be done." How
Into the Nile Region.
C5
many times I had heard that already on this journey, I
was not going to give up without having another good try
to turn the " It can't be done " into " It is done ! "
Preceded by a couple of men as guides my tired men and
myself set out again at 4 o'clock. If the worst came to the
worst, I had still my Canadian canoe with me, and if the men
and the loads could not follow, I intended to go on, with
two or three of my best swimmers, and get to Raja somehow.
In the first impassable river we found that the water only
reached up to the men's necks, and without even halting,
the caravan went straight through. But the second, the
Raja River, presented a somewhat more formidable obstacle.
We stood on its banks at half past five waiting for the ferry
boat to carry us across. There was a ferry boat on the other
side, but no people. The water was 20 feet deep and excep-
tionally rapid. A number of rocks further down had formed
whirlpools and I did not like the idea of sending any of my men
into the water ; I would not have liked to have swum across
myself and what I could not do I certainly would not ask
my men to do. Bang ! bang ! went the guns. Crack ! crack
the revolvers followed ; but there was not a sign of life
on the other bank. The tired bugler, who had laid down
by the side of his load, was impressed to send his signals
across, but that did no good. We fired a volley with several
rifles, but there were still no signs of ferrymen. An hour had
passed, the sun had set and darkness was falling fast. I
did not like the idea at all of camping in the bush when the
town of Raja, with the first white man's bungalow, lay in sight
on the other side of the river ; my men, too, were anxious
to get across, and once more Dorina (the hippopotamus)
came to the rescue. Half-a-dozen water bottles made out of
native gourds were tied together and Dorina had them fixed
round his shoulders, the mouths of the water bottles, of course,
being properly stoppered up.
213
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Through the long dense undergrowth he worked his way
about half-a-mile along the bank up river, and then dived in.
He swam for all he was worth but the current swept him down,
and we were afraid that we would lose our brave hippo amongst
the rocks. He just managed to get close enough to the other
side to catch hold of some long over-hanging branches, and
slowly he crawled ashore half a mile below where we stood.
He set up a great hullabaloo when he got his breath, and with
voluminous gesticulation succeeded in informing the natives
of Raja that a white man was waiting on the other side of
the river. There was much rushing about, tom-tomming
and shouting, and a large crowd of people clapping their hands
and shouting " Maraba, maraba ! " (" Welcome ! Welcome ! ")
came running down to the river.
The boat was paddled across with a couple of sticks, and in a
comparatively short time I found myself in the Residency,
where a naval man — Lieut. Huntly Walsh — was comfortably
installed as Inspector of the Western District of the Bahr-el-
Ghazal. With an Egyptian Mahmur and an Egyptian doctor,
the three formed the Government staff at Raja. There were
also one or two Greek traders in the place. The chief of
Raja is a man of considerable importance, some 6,000 or 7,000
people belong to him. The market place is visited daily by
about 800 people. The traders are nearly all Arabs, but a
few Bornuese and Fullahs come from different parts of the
Sudan.
As mentioned already at the beginning of this chapter
I cannot refer to any great excitement on meeting with the
first white man.
Mr.Walsh treated me most hospitably. He had been informed
that the French were coming to take his country away from him.
I do not suppose he beheved it, but in these very out-of-the-
way places one never knows what may happen. In case of
European war it would be weeks, and at the out-posts of the
214
Into the Nile Region.
Shari-Chad Protectorate, months, perhaps, before the white
man there would hear of it.
It was so refreshing to be able to stretch out on an Angareb
(Arab bedstead) and without restraint speak in English.
In camp it w^as usually a mixture of Arabic, Hausa, French
and pigeon English, according to the men who were addressed.
Two days I had spent in delicious laziness, and on Monday,
September 27th, after having secured eight new carriers,
retaining 14 of my Kefh Genji and eight of my Hausas, the
boys and a soldier, we left Raja at 2.30 p.m. marched for
two hours, and then camped on the east bank of the Faragalla
brook. My horse I had exchanged for two mules, as the
tsetse fly was reported to be ver}^ bad between Dem-Ziber and
Wau. During our two hours' march a heavy thunderstorm
threatened, and the frequency and fierceness of the lightning
was something quite abnormal. At night we had a little rain.
The men had plenty of food, I had brought two sheep with me
from Raja and a great amount of guinea-corn. Our camp
consisted of five huts and my tent. It is of the greatest
importance to keep the men as dry as possible in the rainy
season, as they are as susceptible to colds as Europeans.
In spite of all my remonstrances, the boys will put their
blankets on as soon as it begins to rain and keep marching in
them, getting them wet through, and then they creep into
their huts and wrap themselves up in these soaking garments.
Next day, of course, their limbs are stiff, and they are usually
in for fever. I kept on preaching to them that if they wanted
to go out into the rain, they should take off all their clothes.
Their skins would be their best covering in the water, and
when they came back into their huts, they could put on their
dry clothes, but my preaching was in vain. I suppose they
thought they knew better. It is, of course, easy to lay down
rules to prevent cold and fever, but it is not always as easy
to live up to these rules.
215
From Hausciland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
I had felt cruel during the day in riding my little mules,
whom I think I could have carried as easily as they managed
to carry me. One of them, of Abysinnian breed, had the
quagga marks on its legs. The minds of mules are different
from the minds of other animals, for they delight in doing
the unexpected, and not what you want. They are in fact,
as the Arabs call them, " Aulad Sheitan " (children of the
evil one). The Lieutenant from whom I got them, told me
I should find it impossible to saddle the Abysinnian one in
a quarter of an hour. As a matter of fact, my boy saddled
him in five minutes. He was as quiet as a lamb. A few days
later I wanted him to walk over a bridge. There was a certain
amount of water to be waded through before we got to the
narrow bridge, but as soon as we got to the beginning of it,
my mule would not put his foot on to it, but decided to investi-
gate 15 feet of water by his side. Do what I would I could not
get the beast to go on to the bridge until I had dismounted
into the water and by main force had him hauled and pushed
over it. He used to give us many merry minutes in the
morning, especially after he found out he could play with his
stable boy, to which honourable position my former inter-
preter, Osman, had now been degraded. I had found this same
Osman stealing melons in a village, when I had just given the
boys enough food to last them for days, so I told him that I
would have to hand him over to the Resident and have him
imprisoned. He was very much frightened and with tears
begged me to let him off and he would never do it again.
For the first time, perhaps, in his life he began to work, and
gathered wood and grass for the mules, and I allowed him to
take charge of the beasts. He was a great strapping fellow,
but the little mule, which he might have carried on his
shoulders, threw him repeatedly by butting, kicking, biting
or sidling up against him.
Once I put Dangana on Buck (the mule), when poor Dan
216
Into the Nile Reg-ion.
was tired. The mule went along with an angelic face for about
a mile, when he suddenly took it into his head to buck. Now
Dan was quite a good rider, and was afraid of no horse. He
had had horses of his own, and had ridden some wild animals.
But the mule bucked to a new tune, and before Dan knew what
was happening, he went head over heels with my valuable
instrument bag sailing away into the grass, and with a final
kick and a bray, the mule decamped. It was such a ridiculous
sight, that the whole caravan stopped and the men held their
sides with laughter. The mule would not leave the path,
but it was impossible to catch it until we had reached the camp.
On Tuesday, September 28th, we had some difficulty in
crossing the Ombo River. The water had covered one bank
of the river to the depth of several feet, and in the middle
of the river the water was eight feet deep.
The Dalbirka on the other hand was small, and I was able
to get straight across. A small Hausa caravan on its way
to Mecca overtook us on the road. They had been waiting
for weeks in Keffi Genji and had now started again. In the
afternoon we arrived at Jebel-Zakka, where there was a rest-
house and compound consisting of five huts, one of them a
good large one. Next day we left again at dawn. The route
report, which had been handed to me by the Resident, I found
correct. The path is in quite fair condition, but the rank
grass and the swampy ground gave us some difiiculty. The
River Soppo, a large stream which we crossed later on, was
120 feet wide and some 25 feet deep. Crocodiles and hippos
and many fish inhabit its water. If there had been no boat
crossing would have been almost impossible.
Before sunset the sky overhead was deep blue, while heavy
thunderclouds on the horizon discharged their electricity
through the cerulean of the zenith. We camped on the other
side of the Soppo River, where a few boatmen have formed a
little village. In the evening about a dozen camp fires with
217
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
black figures squatting or lying around them, the rushing
river below, and the rolling clouds overhead, formed a grand
and truly African night scene.
On the next day we arrived at Dem-Ziber, where another
Egyptian Mahmur was in charge of that formerly important
station of Zubeir Pasha.
Dem-Ziber is a dying place. Year by year the population
diminishes as people remove towards the trade centres, while
liberated or escaped slaves find their way back to their
tribes.
In the days of Zubeir Pasha this place was the greatest
stronghold of the Arab slave trader, far enough removed from
European control and the influence of Egypt to be safe from
philanthropic interference. But to-day neither the trader
with the Congo nor the Mecca pilgrims from the West pass
through Dem-Ziber. Two or three Greeks have made it their
centre, but one would think that either Raja or Zemio would
form a more desirable headquarters for successful barter
trade.
From Dem-Ziber to Wau the bush path has been improved
considerably ; bridges, and, where necessary, ferries are at the
disposal of the traveller, and every 15 to 20 miles a compound
with a policeman in charge supplies useful and clean rest-
houses.
One of our good officials is reported to have, in all serious-
ness, suggested the establishment of coffee-bars in these rest-
houses similar to those in India. The suggestion is a most
excellent one, only I am afraid customers would be few and far
between. The Government levies a road tax on all Europeans
making use of Government roads, and the policemen in charge
of the various stations are entitled to certain payment-, for
wood, water and service rendered.
The population in this western part of the Bahr-el-Ghazal
Province has been thinned by the wars and slavery to such an
218
Into the Nile Remon.
extent that there is not probably more than one soul to every
five square miles, at least so it appeared to me. The people
may, of course, have escaped into the unexplored bush, but
this is unhkely, as some trace of them would surely be found
on or near the roads.
On getting nearer to Wau the population increases. Several
Nyam-Nyam villages appear quite flourishing. These Nyam-
Nyam, contrary to the usual mode of procedure amongst
the Central African bush people, do not clear the ground
G0VERN>rENT HOUSE AT WAU.
entirely of trees in laying out their farms, but, after destroy-
ing the undergrowth, they plant their millet and guinea-
corn into the rich, dark mould of the bush; and, while corn does
not grow to the prodigious size found in the open fields, the
harvest usually is not a bad one.
The Nyam-Nyam have had their name given to them by
the Arabs. It is the imitation of the smacking of the lips
which is intended to denote cannibalism, and indeed many
219
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
of these Nyam-Nyam people are cannibals. They are excellent
fighters, and the Arabs were unable to bring them into sub-
jection.
Among the tribes of the Central Sudan there are some of the
finest fighting races of Africa, who have successfully resisted
the inroads of the Arab slave raiders and for over half a
millenium have stayed the advance of the Moslem religion in
Africa.
CHAPTER XVI.
From Wau to Khartum.
The Sudd — Enemy to Development — God-Help-Us Island — Mule's Shabby
Trick — " Ordeal" — Problems for the .Administrator — Mosquitoes — Dis-
appointments—Khartum at Last !
My sincere thanks are due and ungrudgingly given to the
four representative officers of Greater Britain who received
me most hospitably on my arrival at the Government centre
REVIEW AT WAU.
221
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province. During the 19 days it was
my privilege to spend with them, the hospitaUty they were
good enough to show me was of the friendhest. One had
stepped from the God-forsaken, man-forsaken wilderness,
into a family circle of contentment and happy co-operation,
and when on October 28th, I commenced the last lap of my
trans-African tramp, I felt quite sorry to say goodbye to those
men whom the Westerner would call " all white."
My original intention had been to go by steamer from Wau
to Khartum. Indeed, I would hardly have left Kefii Genji
and gone down into the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province, had I antici-
pated the disappointment which awaited me. At Raja Lieut.
Huntly Walsh, the first white man I met in the Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan, who provided me a welcome, had informed me that
I should probably be able to catch the last steamer of the
season from Wau to Khartum. The last steamer had gone
some 10 days before my arrival, and this with several barges
and boats had temporarily disappeared in the sudd region,
Mobile a steamer which Bishop Geier of Khartum had sent
up towards Wau did not arrive. In vain I waited, and tired
of waiting at last decided to trek round the southern end of
the sudd and thus try and reach the White Nile, and on the
White Nile the steamers that ply between Khartum and
Uganda.
Before continuing let me give you a short description of
the sudd. Between Fashoda and Bor from the Sobat to
Meshra-Er-Rek this Upper Nile region in the rainy season
becomes one vast lake, from 2 to 25 feet in depth. The vast
stretches of papyrus grass, reeds and rushes are torn from their
moorings, which have been formed by the long roots anchor-
ing the floating vegetation to the ground. They drift about
hither and thither, carried by the currents and shifted by the
winds, west, north, south, east, as current and wind may
change. Open stretches of water, lanes and lakes, appear and
From Wau to Khartum.
disappear in turn, and boats attempting to traverse the sudd
region at this time are apt to become marooned, hedged in
as securely as ships are by the drift ice in the Polar North.
A more or less permanent channel has been opened by way
of the Bahr-el-Jebel to Uganda, a weak embankment, just being
sufficiently strong to anchor permanently the papyrus growth,
but an exceptional rise of the river may at any moment close
the channel.
The Bahr-el-Ghazal stream is closed practically every year
by the floating sudd, and during the middle of the dry season,
after the vegetation has become anchored again, is opened
temporarily by steamers from Khartum. The only effectual
and lasting way of deahng with this sudd seems to be that
permanent channels should be dredged and strong embank-
ments formed both for the White Nile, the Bahr-el-Ghazal
and the Bahr-el-Arab. This would, of course, be dealing with
forces of nature of unmeasured issues, and the question arises
whether through the opening of these permanent waterways
in the rainy season, so much water would be set free as to
drown Egypt, or whether the level of the present sudd lake
would be too low to have such an effect. Only a careful
survey can permit a satisfactory conclusion. Under present
circumstances, the natural wealth and resources of the Bahr-
el-Ghazal Province must remain undeveloped.
I had been warned that I should find between Wau and
Shambe on the Bahr Jebel a good deal of swampy ground ;
and I went, therefore, prepared to wade in certain places up
to my neck.
My last animals, two mules which had come with me from
Raja, were in a poor condition, and looked as if they would
probably drop in a day or two. Still one might hope —
" Hope, child, to-morrow hope,
And then again to-morrow.
And then to-morrow still,
Trust in a future day."
225 Q
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
My favourite old Scotcli proverb was quoted to me by
one of the men at Wau just before leaving —
" Set a stout hert,
Till a stigh bray : "
and though, instead of a bray there was a ditch before me,
I realised its application, started out full of expectation of
good to come, and was not disappointed.
OFFICSR COMMANDING I ITH SUDANESE, CAPI. WOOD-MARTIN, AND
DOCTOR CARROLL AT WAU.
I had to leave one of my mules behind at Rumbeck,
but found the road not too bad, my new carriers strong and
willing, and my health on reaching the Nile, better than when
1 arrived at Wau.
Had I tried to go over that route four weeks earlier, of
course things would have been very different, and it would
probably have meant swimming for hours.
226
From Wau to Khartum.
In the rainy season the Bahr-el-Ghazal is a hopeless place.
Just north of my route on the river there is an island called
"God-Help-Us Island," where Gessi Paslia, with hundreds of
men, was marooned from September 25th to January- loth,
and where many of them died of starvation, being eaten by
mosquitoes day and night, while having nothing to eat them-
selves. Listen to what he says about this terrible
experience : —
" Scarcely does someone die than he is devoured during the
night by the survivors. It is impossible to describe the
horror of such scenes. One soldier devoured his own
son.
" The day after this the cannibals died. It is noticeable
that the Arabs were the first and the most numerous of those
who devoured the flesh of the dead.
" Of the 149 Sudanese soldiers, except 12 whom I left in
the sloop and the nugger, only eight are alive, but they are in
a desperate state. As to the women and children, I cannot at
this moment give the exact number of dead, but I believe it
is more than 270."
The orography of the Bahr-el-Ghazal is still comparatively
little known, especially the lower reaches of the rivers that fall
into the sudd. Between Keffi Genji and Shambe I crossed no
less than ten rivers, differing in depth from 6 feet to 30 feet,
and in width from 40 yards to 300 yards.
All these rivers terminate in one vast lake, between the 7th
and the loth deg. N., and the 29th and 33rd deg. E. Gr.
The wisdom which prompts white men in Central Africa
not to diminish probable difliculties while giving route reports
to intending travellers, always bears fruit in grateful remem-
brance when anticipated troubles diminish or disappear.
I was well pleased with myself when I found that only
once on the 270 miles from Wau to Shambe did I get wet,
and that for the simple reason that my mule refused to carry
227 Q 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
me out of a swamp after having taken me into it. Once or
twice I had turned up my garments to my knees and waded
for a mile or two through about a foot of water, but usually
I could ride straight through, and the worst swamp, according
to reports, just before entering Shambe, we found the least
troublesome. I was able to cross it without even getting my
feet wet.
A day or two I spent at a place called Rumbeck in the
company of a British resident. He told me that he had not
seen a white man for many months. Stations like these are
the outposts of the Empire, the " jumping-off " places into the
unknown.
The natives seem to have great confidence in their white
administrators, as true justice is meted out to all comers.
During an afternoon walk the Resident pointed out to me one
of the natives working a pit-saw, and informed me that this
man was imdergoing a sentence of several years' penal servi-
tude for having poisoned a man by compelling him to drink
" ordeal " water. The brother of the prisoner had suddenly
died, and as another young man had expressed himself to the
effect that he wished him to die, the convict had called together
the village people and insisted that his brother had been
bewitched by this young man, and that he would kill him
unless he cleared himself by undergoing the poison ordeal.
If the poison took no effect the man would be innocent ; if
the poison took effect the man would be justly punished and
die. The poison did take effect, the man died, but the white
man got to hear about it, and the one who administered the
poison was hauled up by the policeman and imprisoned much
to his disgust, for it was not he who had killed the man who
bewitched his brother, though he would have been perfectly
justified in his own eyes had he done so ; it was the ordeal
water, the great spirit who had taken the life of his brother's
murderer.
228
From Wau to Khartum.
Superstition such as this is very rampant, and is to be met
with continually. Witchcraft is a thing that is recognised
by our Government in the Sudan. Casting out evil spirits
has been resorted to by men in the employ of the Govern-
ment.
The problems which the white judge is face to face with
from time to time are very complex and difficult to solve.
The Resident at Rumbeck asked me to listen to a case he
was trying during my stay there. An ugly old man had
purchased a young woman from her father for a certain number
of cattle. After a year of married life, the young woman fell
in love with a fine strapping young savage and wanted to
marry him. The husband was quite willing to let her go if the
brother of the girl who had succeeded to her father's property
would pay back the cows. This the brother refused to do.
The woman also refused to stay further with her husband,
who, moreover, did not want her. The strong young bush-
man loved her but had no money. What was to be done ?
Will the white man please say what is right, for the custom
of the tribe cannot solve the difficulty.
Divorce is permitted according to the law of the land, but
in case of divorce the purchase money, or at least three-
quarters of it, must be paid back to the parent or the wife.
The parent had died, his son did not want to pay back, and
no one could compel him. The husband did not want to
keep the girl as she loved another, and the wife did not want
to stay with her husband who was old and ugly.
White man, what are we to do ?
Answer : — The woman must stay with her husband until
she finds somebody whom she hkes, and who will pay her
husband three-quarters of what he had paid for her. The
husband has been a fool to marry such a young woman, and
will have to keep her until things can be arranged. It is
finished ! — and the parties depart.
229
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Tribal customs, habits, traditions, and laws have to be
considered and made the basis of true justice. The introduc-
tion of European law all at once into Mohammedan or pagan
regions would create grave difficulties and misunderstandings.
On my arrival at Shambe I found that the steamer from
Khartum which I had gone to meet there had not arrived,
and was not expected for another three days. I therefore
made myself at home in the little mosquito-proof bungalow,
which seemed specially designed to keep in all the mosquitoes,
of which on the Island of Shambe there were such innumerable
nmltitudes that even Mark Twain's advice was impracticable.
He says that as mosquitoes will always get into your mos-
quito net, however careful you are, the best way to deal with
them is to get inside your mosquito net, make a hole in the net
and wait — all the mosquitoes in the room will find that hole
and come into your net. Wait inside for an hour, and you will
have emptied the room and collected them all round you inside
the net. Then tie up the hole, slip out of the net and sleep
outside in the room in peace. Very good advice — probatum est.
Just like some other good counsel I had received before
leaving for Central Africa. I was asked by a very kind motherly
lady to be most careful and not expose myself to draughts
in Africa, and also, on no account to allow myself to get wet ;
also always to have my water boiled and filtered, as other-
wise I should surely get fever and die. Most excellent advice
of the very greatest importance which might be lived up to, —
If
If there were no evening winds, tornadoes andgalesin thebush.
If rivers had not sometimes to be crossed in the rain on the
march and canoes were not upset, &c.
If one's filter candles never got broken by the boys and the
boys always carefully observed the boihng point. If, but as
things are, with the water, the draught, the wet, the mosquitoes,
one has to do the best one can.
230
From Wau to Khartum.
At last, after three very monotonous days on the two or
three acres of Shambe Island, where the only stimulus and
entertainment was caused by mosquitoes and mosquito bites,
a Government steamer arrived with the Governor of the Bahr-
el-Ghazal Province and several other officers on their way up
country. Here was another disappointment. Disappointments
seemed to accumulate towards the end of my journey. This
steamer had instructions to go up to Uganda before returning
to Khartum. I might have awaited her return at Shambe,
but I preferred making the extra journey up to Gondokoro
rather than continue another day on the little island in the
lagoon. In the sudd region there are some dehghtful spots,
one of them already mentioned on the Bahr-el-Ghazal, is called
" God-Help-Us Island," and I would like to call Shambe the
" God- Forsaken-Island."
At the south end of the great morass, two faithful men of
the C.M.S., are endeavouring to inculcate into the naked Nile
savages the first rudiments of our faith. I shall not forget
how on arriving at Bor, these missionaries came down to the
boat, followed by some 30 or 40 members of the Dinka tribe,
great strapping fellows 6 to 7 feet high, all in Adam's costume,
with lean, lanky stork legs. Their favourite posture seemed
to be standing on one leg, with the other tucked high up
underneath, resting against the former.
Besides the C.M.S. at Bor, there is only one other Protestant
Mission Station on the Upper Nile (with the exception of
Khartum and Omdurman), Dolaib Hill on the Sobat, not far
from Fashoda.
The Roman Catholics have in this same territory some 12
or 15 stations, with a number of industrial schools, and some
excellent stone buildings for the European staff. The mission
is called the Austrian Mission, but includes fathers and lay-
brothers from Italy, Germany, France and Ireland. One
cannot but admire the devotion with which these men spend
231
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
months and years in faithful, self-sacrificing labour, not
unfrcquently dying at their post without any apparent result.
They are mostly members of the farming class, simple-minded
and industrious. The work of the missionaries in the Eastern
Sudan is confined practically to the reaching of three pagan
tribes, the Shilluks, the Dinkas, and the Nuer, while numbers
of other tribes, especially those living in the Western Hill
country of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, are untouched.
After a pleasant voyage on which our boat called at Bor,
IVIongalla, Lado, and Gondokoro, we passed Shambe on our
return journey and then by way of Taufikia and Fashoda
reached Khartum on December 3rd, and thus once more
entered civilised regions.
Khartum with its river prom.enade, tramway, electric light,
clubs, hotel, cathedral and palace, makes one feel as if one had
arrived home already. The kindness of Bishop Gwynne,
the various representatives of the Government of the Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan, and His Excellency the Sirdar, Sir Reginald
Wingate, both in Khartum and Cairo, will always remain in
one's grateful memory as a happy ending to a journey which
v.'as not without difficulties.
When lecturing a few years ago before the National Geo-
graphical Society in the United States of America the lanternist
broke down with his apparatus, which provided an illustration
for the statement. I preferred to the audience that the
three virtues indispensable for an African traveller were
■" Patience, Geduld and la Patience," and that President
Roosevelt's axiom, " Speak softly, carry a big stick and you
will ' go far ' " was more applicable to America than to Africa.
Patiently I had waited for ten years preparing for my march
across the Sudan, and now at last patience has been rewarded
and my tour across the Continent, following roughly the border
line between Islam and paganism is a " fait accompli."
232
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CHAPTER XVII.
Short History of the Land of Cush.
Cush = Sudan — Nubian Temples— In the Time of the Romans — The
Egyptian Sudan in the Middle Ages.
Little has been published on the ancient history of the
Anglo-Eg3^ptian Sudan, and it seems, therefore, advisable to
include in this book a short epitome of what is known of the
history and exploration of those regions.
According to Strabo, the Ethiopians and Nubians are said to
have been the teachers of Egypt in the sciences, but Herodotus
maintains that the Egyptians were the authors and distributors
of art and wisdom.
In the earliest historic records of the Kingdom of the
Pharaohs, we read of fights and wars between Egypt and
Nubia, fortune favouring now one, now the other.
The lands bordering on Egypt from the first Catarac t as far
south as Mount Barkal are known by the general name " Ta-
Khont " which means the land of Khont. The capital of
this land with the famous temple of Ammon was Napata,
situated close to the holy Hill of Barkal (Dou-Ouab). The
name Khont-Hon-Nofer included all the countries of the
African Continent,*
Ta-Kes, Ta-Kenset, or the old Biblical name Cush signifies
what is to-day known as the Sudan. This name is probably
preserved in the Nubian district El-Kenus. The inhabitants
* Dr. H. Brugsch-Bey : " A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs " vol. I, p. 329.
235
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
of the Upper Nile are called Nahasi on the monuments, while
the inhabitants between the Nile and the Red Sea are known
as An, or in the time of the Ptolemys, Senti (Sati).
The word Nubia appears much later, and is connected by
early philologists with the old Egyptian word " Nub," meaning
gold, as the greater part of the gold used in Egypt came origin-
ally from Nubia.*
The frontier between Egypt and the Sudan has usually
been somewhere near the Island of Philae. The name of
this Island means, in Ethiopic, frontier,! in Coptik Pilak
and old Egyptian P-a-leg {vide Strabo's notes on Philae : Strabo
Book 17). We read that in the wars under the Vlth Dynasty
in Egypt, the Cushites were conquered by the Egyptians,
and their lands came under the rule of the Pharaohs, if we
can trust the reports of an Egyptian official named " Una."
Under the rule of King Pepi I certain valuable kinds of wood
were introduced from the south into Egypt. The tribes
living round Korosko rendered valuable service in transport.
Egypt was at that time in its golden period. On the magnifi-
cent monuments of this time which represent the wars and
victories of the Kings of Egypt, we often see the effigies of
Cushites as prisoners of war. In the time of King Usertsen I
(the second king of the Xllth Dynasty) an expedition was
sent to the south to define the frontiers of Egypt. A monu-
ment found close to Wady-Halfa denotes this place as the
southernmost point of the State of the Pharaohs. Usertsen
III (the fifth king of the Xllth Dynasty) built two fortresses
south of Wady-Halfa close to Semneh and Kumneh to control
the trade on the Nile.
In the XVIIIth Dynasty, about 1,500 B.C., most of the
temples in Nubia were built. The nam.es of the Kings Tothmes
and Amenhotep are found on many of the ruins. In the time
* A. H. Keane : " Ethnology of Egyptian Sudan."
t E. H. Wallis Budge : " The Nile" p. 291.
2;6
Short History of the Land of Cush.
of Mose5, therefore, the greater part of the monuments in
Nubia and the eastern Sudan were erected. During the XlXth
Dynasty Nubia was known as a settled peaceful Egyptian
Province. The names of Rameses I, Seti I, Rameses II, Seti II
are now and then mentioned as the builders of temples. The
name of Rameses is given, for example, as the builder of the
temple of Beit-el-Wali of Gerf-Hussein, of Kuban, and of
Abu-Simbel. A greeting of welcome of the Nubians to
Pharaoh, King of Egypt, is inscribed in the Rock Temple of
Silsilis :
" Hail to thee, King of Egypt, Son of a strange people ;
Thy name is great in the Land of Cush,
Where thy war-cry sounds through the homes of the people.
Great is thy power, thou gracious ruler ;
He shames the people.
Life to Pharaoh ! safety ; Hail him I
He is a brilliant Sun."
In the course of time, through the enervating propensities of
easily acquired wealth, the energy of the land of the pyramids
had become weakened, and now the opportunity had appeared
for the Cushites to liberate themselves and wrench themselves
free from the yoke of bondage. Not only did they succeed
in gaining their old freedom, but after they had vanquished
the Egyptians in hard warfare under the XXIIIrd Dynasty,
they made themselves lords of the greater part of Egypt.
Syene, the modern Assuan, and Thebes, the City of loo gates,
became the capitals of this Nubian or Ethiopian Empire.
Indeed, during a rebellion in 750 B.C. under Taffneckt the
Lord of Sais, Pianchi, the King of the Ethiopians, succeeded
with a powerful army in conquering the whole of Egypt
as far as Memphis ; and Ethiopians become the Pharaohs
of the XXVth Dynasty. Hoskins* in his book on Ethiopia
has two chapters on this period. Three Ethiopian Kings
* G. A. Hoskins : " Travels in Ethiopia," pp. 284, 294.
237
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
ruled at this time in Egypt, 732 to 688 B.C. Africanus and
Eusebius give us the following dates for their rule : —
AFRICANUS. EUSEBIUS.
Sabbakon .... 8 years. Sabbakon .... 12 years.
Sevechus .... 14 „ Sevechus .... 12 „
Tarkus .... 18 „ Tarkus .... 20 „
Together .... 40 years. Together .... 44 years.
The second and third King are probably Tirhaka* and
So-Shabatok-Sevechus in the II Book of Kings, chaps. 17
and 18. The monuments of Meroe are said to have been built
by Tirhaka the last ruler of this period. The history of
Meroe is mentioned by Eratosthenes, Ptolomeus, Pliny ; and
of the moderns by Bruce and Professor Rosellini. To-day
Meroe, once the birthplace of many arts and sciences, lies
in ruins.
Cambyses sent a badly prepared expedition into the interior
of Ethiopia to bring the Makrobians into subjection, but lack
of food supply compelled it to return, Pausaniasf states
that the Makrobians lived somewhere near Meroe, but Professor
HeerensJ seeks them beyond Cape Guardafui. Under the rule
of the Ptolemys many towns were built that soon after dis-
appeared.
But let us hasten on in the history of the country. At the
time of Psammetich, Elephantine, that beautiful island opposite
Assuan, once, according to tradition the favourite haunt of
the giants of Africa, was the border of Egypt.
Under the first Roman Prefect Cornelius Gallus (the builder
of the southernmost fortress of the Roman Empire), Ibrim,
the King of Triakontashoino near Khartum, sent in the year
22 B.C. messengers to Philae (which was at that time the
southernmost post of Rome), to yield himself, but the Romans
* Prof. R. Lepsius : " Nubische Grammatik," p. 112.
t Pausanias, lib. IV. J Heerens : " Afrikanische Volker," vol. I, Kap. III.
238
Short History of the Land of Cush.
never exercised real control in these far removed regions.
Fights and wars between the different tribes of Nubia and the
Sudan never came to an end. Under the rule of Augustus,
when Petronius* was the second Roman Prefect of Egypt,
a punitive expedition was sent to Napata the capital of Queen
Candace. This Napata is probably the modern El-Barkal,
and lies according to Pliny 870 Roman m.iles above the Catar-
act.
On the west bank of the Nile near Pselchis (the modern
Dakka), Petronius beat the Ethiopians. The latter fled to
the Island of Sorar and into the town of Pselchis. Petronius
stormed this place and left there a portion of his cavalry.
Notitia Imperii (Pselchis is the southernm.ost town and
fortress of the Dodekaschoenus) then marched through the
desert to Premnis.f The latter (probably the ruins of the
Castle Kale Ibrim) j is situated on the second of the seven hill
cones, between Jeneina and Toschke, a cone which on the
river side is about 150 feet high. The latter, too, was taken
by Petronius. He left 400 men as guard, and himself hastened
on to Napata which, after a prolonged battle, fell and was
destroyed. Queen Candace later on tried once more to occupy
the border fort Premnis, but when Petronius again prepared
for war, Candace submitted herself to him.
To .put an end to the continued raids and razzias, Rome
decided, according to Procopius, under Diocletian, in 296 a.d.,
to establish a new advance guard of the Empire on the Upper
Nile. A brave people called the Nubae, Nobatat, or Nobades,
which had yielded many years before to the Roman Dominion,
was introduced into Nubia from the Great Oasis of the Lybian
Desert Charga or according to Perron§ from Dar Nuba south
of Sennaar, to form a protecting barrier against the Blemmyes
* Prof. R. Lepsius : " Nubische Grammatik," p. 113.
t Strabo, lib. 17 and 18.
t Prokesch Ritter von Osten : " Das Landzwischen den Katarakten," p. 26.
§ Perron : Introduction, "Voyage au Waday," par el Tounsy, 1851, p. 3.
239
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
and others of the Sudan people. The hopes of Rome were
destined to disappointment. The Blemmyes conquered the
Nubae and penetrated far into Upper Egypt, and compelled
Maximian, a General of Marcian in the Thebaid (Luxor)
in 451 A.D. to a treaty. The modern Kalabsche, which was
known in antiquity as Talmis, was for a long time the capital
of the Blemmyes. Its great temple contains many inscriptions
of the time of the Emperor Augustus, and a few of the time
of- Caligula, Trajan and Severus.*
Strabo, who visited Upper Egypt under the Third Prefect
Aeilius-Gallusf, the Successor of Petronius, describes Philae
as the frontier, half belonging to Egypt and half to the Ethio-
pians, According to his notes, south of Assuan lived the
Troglodytes, the Blemmyes, the Nubae, and the Megabari.
In many parts of Nubia carefully worked caves are cut out of
the chalk by Troglodytes.
The King of the Nubians, Silko, became a Christian at
Kalabsche in 545 a.d. Once and for all he succeeded in
defeating the Blemmyes and nearly exterminated the whole
tribe.
From the sixth to the fourteenth century, Nubians ruled
over the land between Egypt and Ethiopia. Remarkable
is the description of Silko in the forecourt of the temple of
Kalabsche, where one of the columns is marked with the
following Greek writings : —
Bacri\icr«o9 Nou/SaScot' Kai o\(ov tmv AiSlottcov.^
Hardly 100 years had passed after the Nubians had become
Christians, when in the time of the Fourth Khalifa, the first
Mohammedan, Ababja Arabs entered the land and took Dongola.
Once more in 969 a.d. the Nubians succeeded in gaining
* Frank Vincent : " AcUial Africa," p. 202.
t T. Grafton Milne : " History of Egypt under Roman Rule," vol. V, p. 19.
+ A. H. Keane : " Stanford's Africa," vol. I, p. 523.
240
Short History of the Land of Cush.
their independence, but slowly and surely the Crescent faith
advanced, and in the beginning of the year 1172, the brother
of Saladin succeeded in converting the northern parts of
Nubia forcibly to Mohammedanism, The southern part
followed in 1316, and at this time Christianity had become
extinct in Nubia, so that to-day only the lonely bare ruins of
former Christian Churches remain.
Very few words remind one to-day in the language of Nubia
of the time when the country was Christian [e.g., Kiraghe,
coming from the Greek and meaning " the day of the Lord ").*
During the middle ages, little is known of the Upper
Nile.
In 1520 Selim L introduced a number of Mohammedan
Bosnians into the land, established peace and order at the
borders of the Sudan. Their leaders had the title " Kashif."
These Bosnians lost their own language after a short time
and became Nubians. Here and there in Nubia one finds people
with light blue eyes and red hair, the descendants of these
Bosnians.
The tribe of the Zebaim, or according to others, the Sibera,
appointed at this time the Meleks in Dongola, and ruled over
the Upper Nile from Sennaar to Wady-Halfa. Later on this
position of Melek or King came into the hands of the Funge.
(Funghi).t In 1630 the Melek of Sennaar sent his army
consisting of Funge to occupy Dongola. The Funge ruled
in Dongola for 152 years, until in 1782 their dominion was
taken over by the Shagia or Shakie Arabs. Three Meleks
of this tribe ruled at the same time, forming a Triumvirate.
The names of the first three were Melek Shwish, Melek Omar
and Melek Zebair. The Shagias in their turn gave way to
the Mamelukes. 600 of them with their followers were driven
by the troops of Mohamed Ali out of Egypt. They formed
* Prof. R. Lepsius : " Nubische Grammatik," p. 242.
t Prof. R. Hartmann : " Die Voelker Afrikas," p. 15.
241 R
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
their camp at Malaka (El-oiirde means camp, and El-ourde
is the modern Dongola). They joined hands with Melek
Tumbul of Argo of the family of Sibera, and when the Melek
of Dongola of that date — Mohamed Adlan — visited them,
he was murdered by the Mamelukes. The murderers took
possession of the capital, but had to flee later on before the
troops of Mohamed Ali. They continued their flight southward
by way of Shendy to Darfur ; gave trouble there, and had to
continue their wanderings by way of Bagirmi and Bornu. We
see the last remnants of these proud tyrants who had lorded
it over Egypt for six centuries turn their faces towards Fezzan,
and only one of them, the last, Marfou Bey, reached Tripoli.
In 1820 Mohamed Ali sent his son, Ishmael Pasha with
5,000 irregulars and 10 cannon to the Sudan to bring that
country into subjection. His main idea seems to have been
to get rid of the unruly Turkish soldiers, and to secure a large
number of negro slaves whom he intended to form into
regiments. His secondary object was to drive away the
Mamelukes, to find out something about the proverbially
rich gold mines of this part of Africa, and finally to prepare
for himself a place of refuge in case of any difficulties with
Constantinople.*
The troops reached Sennaar, fortified their position there,
a brother-in-law of Ishmael named Defderdar Ahmed Bey
followed with an army of 3,000 men, and the military operations
w^ere then extended by way of Fazogl to Kordofan. At this
time, Hassan Kashif, the last King of the Nubians who ruled
in Derr, was dethroned and his country annexed. Many stories
are still current in Nubia about Hassan Kashif, who is said
to have been a regular heathen. I have been told he was a
giant, over 7 feet in height, who could demolish a lamb for
breakfast, and a sheep for dinner. He had a hundred wives,
and more children than one could count. In i860 fifteen of his
* Dr. E. Riippel : " Reisen in Nubien, etc.," p. 23.
242
Short History of the Land of Cush.
sons were still alive. Then the Upper Nile became an Egyptian
Province. In 1883 part of it fell into the hands of the Mahdi,
who devasted large tracks of it and reduced the population
to less than one-third of what it previously was. But this is
modern history, and well known, and there is no need of our
being reminded of Gordon's heroic death, or Kitchener's
terrible revenge.
243
CHAPTER XVIII.
On the Anthropology of the Sudan Tribes.
Coififures — Language — Arms — Cattle — Coins.
The Sudan is not only the border-hne between Mohamme-
danism and Paganism ; it also forms the border region for
three branches of the human family, the Semitic, the Hamitic
and the Bantu branch. The first is represented through
various tribes of the Arab nation — the Beni-Ah, the Beni-
Suleiman, Aulad-Hamad, Beni-Hassan, and many others.
The second includes the Fulani, the Bedauja tribes, the
Nubians, the Bishareen, and the Hadendowa, while the last
in the south, the Bantu branch, is represented by a multitude
of tribes and nations. The Bantu people include theMunchis,
the Tangele, the Rei-Buba, the Musgun, the Banda, the
Kirdi, the Kuti, Nyam-Nyam, the Kreish, and many
others.
All the Bantu tribes may be known and recognised by their
tribal markings. The women have a habit of indulging in
national hair-dresses. The Fulani women usually wear the
hair in the style of the Sphinx. The Bornu and Bagirmi
women from Lake Chad have their hair elaborately dressed
in six to nine plaits lying close to the head, and running from
the front to the back. The Hausa and Adamawa women may
be known by their coxcomb fashion of hairdress. These
coiffures are usually so elaborate, taking sometimes a couple
of days to build up, that they have to last from six months
to a year. They form an ideal breeding ground for the " little
inconveniences " of Central Africa.
244
On the Anthropology of the Sudan Tribes.
The men of the Bantu tribes in the Central and West-
Central Sudan are characterised by cicatricings on their faces.
The following list has been carefully compiled and verified.
There may still be mistakes in it, but the pains taken to correct
and re-correct it, should have given reliable material.
WOMEN.
BORNU OR BAGIRMI.
FULANI, STYLE OF THE
SPHINX.
HAUSA OR ADAMAWA.
MEN.
/'.'->
ANGALAWA IN KANO
AI-BINOES AMONG THE
CANNIBALS ARE FOOD FOR
THE CHIEFS.
245
KANO.
KANO.
^' ■ -
^V~ :>^
<.'--'■
"^ x-Vri'
f. V
KANO.
KANO.
SOKOTO ZARIA KONTAGORA
KEFFI NASSARAWA.
&0m
GUAR I.
246
BASSA.
TANGELE.
BIDA (NUPE).
BIDA (NUPE).
#'"-^^%,
KATAGUM FULANIS
WITHOUT MARKING.
</----^-^,
NUPE BOATMAN BIDA
BASSAMA KAKANDA.
247
DAURA.
BAGIRMI.
FICA IN BORNU.
BERI-BERI IN BORNU.
^' -■
.'- ."-^
</--' '"
~^ ^*,~
r. '/•
S}
BAUCHI TOWN, NO
DISTINCT MARKS.
ABUJA.
248
WADA PAGANS, ZARIA.
- ^ .: ;-^.
RAGO.
JUKUN.
ILI.ORIN.
YORUBA.
249
f' :-■>
DAKARKARI PAGANS,
SOUTH OF SOKOTO.
ZABERMA,
NORTH OF SOKOTO.
MOSHI PEOPLE,
WEST OF SOKOTO.
f' :-j
r. /
si
'.'^^--'f^^'
.^-^^J'
"*!_ "d
KATSENA.
YERGUM.
f" :-■>
f' :-■'
BURMAWA
BOGOBIL.
ANGASS.
250
On the Anthropology of the Sudan Tribes.
As regards the relative state of civilisation, the Bantus are
on the lowest rungs of the ladder. After them come the
Hamitic races, and lasth' the Semitic.
The latter welh dressed, well armed, enjoy a considerable
prestige. All speak Arabic, and about i per cent, or less
can read and write.
The Hamitic races are close behind the Arabs. They are
dressed in cotton garments ; they work leather and iron,
keep large herds of cattle, camels, horses, sheep and goats,
and are many of them masters of the Arabic language, while
the Bantus range from the lowest type of naked cannibal
savages to tribes such as the Musgun, the Munchis and others,
which latter enjoy a comparatively high, indigenous civilisa-
tion. Nearly all the tribes belonging to the Hamitic and Bantu
peoples speak distinct languages or dialects, but as Hausa
in the west and Arabic in the east are the trade tongues, by
means of these two languages one is always able to feel one's
way through this conglomerate of nations in the Sudan.
As to their arms, the Arabs in the north usually carry
rifles and pistols, spears, swords, and daggers. They are
mounted on horseback, and many of them are excellent
riders. Their horses are a mixture of Arab and Barb.
The chief is always mounted on the fattest horse of the tribe.
All are Mohammedans.
The Hamitic peoples, who are also Mohammedans, have
a few rifles, spears, bows and arrows, swords and daggers.
Their rifles are mostly of an antiquated pattern, the proverbial
gaspipe elephant gun.
The Bantus have no rifles, only here and there a somewhat
superior native has purchased, stolen, or taken in fight, a
shooting iron. Gun-powder by these good people is much in
demand. Practically all of them carry the short bow (the
Hamitic people use the long bow), cutlasses or weird shaped
swords, spears, wrist or hand knives, and iron boomerangs.
251
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
The more civiHsed a tribe is, the richer we find it in farm
stock. The Musgun have large herds of good sized cattle,
horses, and donkeys. The Munchis have a few small cattle
which usually go under the name of " pagan cattle," a kind
of pigmy forest breed. They also have pigs and goats,
sheep and fowls, and a very few horses.
The Bantu mountain tribes
ride small ponies which, in
spite of their insignificant size,
are sturdy and very useful.
They do not fall as easy a prey
to the tsetse fly as the Arab
Barb.
There are dogs throughout
the land, big dogs, small dogs,
tame dogs, and wild dogs,
most of them wretched mongrel
curs, with the exception of a
breed on the Shari, where the
natives have trained them for
hunting purposes and to course
small antelopes and hares ;
the Arab wind hound, and the
excellent watch dog of the
Upper Nile.
European coinage is being
rapidly introduced into the
Sudan. English money is used very largely now in
Nigeria, Egyptian in the Eastern Sudan, French money
in the Shari-Chad Protectorate, but the latter is disliked
by the natives, who much prefer the Maria Theresa dollars.
The German coinage in Adamawa is hardly known by the
natives.
The best going cloth all through the Sudan is a strong
COURT MUSICIAN.
On the Anthropology of the Sudan Tribes.
indigo coloured cotton with a bright sheen. Next to that
the most useful is white cloth. Gorgeously coloured cottons
do not take as well amongst the pagans as one would have
expected.
Wherever the natives grow, spin and weave their own
cotton imitation native cloth is much in demand. Where
the Niger and the Nile give access to certain provinces of
the Sudan, the growth of native cotton should give in the
THE chief's band.
future emplo3^ment to large numbers of these people. It
would seem preferable that the natives should export cotton
rather than laboriously spin and weave their native material.
This could be done so much cheaper and easier in Europe
for them. Once it is pointed out to the natives that by
bringing in a certain amount of raw cotton they would
receive in exchange beautifully finished cloth, there should
be no difficulty in greatly extending the native cotton
plantations.
253
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
It was my privilege, on my trans-African tour, to visit or
meet with members of the following tribes, of which those
marked * are reached at present by Protestant Missions : —
(a) Northern Nigeria (British).-
1. Fulani.
2. Hausa.*
3. Yoruba.*
4. Nupe.*
5. Guari *
6. Bassama.*
7. Munchi.
8. Rago.
9. Afo.
10. Kibyen.*
11. Panyam.*
12. Dimmock.
13. Miriam.
The Fulanis, Kansas, Yorubas, Nupes, and Beri-Beris are
Moham.medans, the rest are Pagans.
In the following I have compiled a list
of Northern Nigeria, most of them
languages : — -
14.
Kwolla.
15-
Ankwe.
16.
Angass.*
17-
Pirpum.
18.
Montoil.
19-
Yergum.*
20.
Gurkawa.
21.
Burmawa.
22.
Jukun.*
23-
Djen.
24.
Tangele.
25-
Mbula.*
26.
Beri-Beri.
of the known tribes
speaking distinct
Kabba Province.
1. Kukuruku.
2. Igbira.
3. Akoko.
4. Alere.
5. Ade.
6. Efon.
7. Owe.
8. Egbebe.
9. Yagba.
10. Abunu.
11. Aworo.
12. Kakanda.
13. Kupa.
II. ILLORIN.
14. Igbona.
15. Yoruba.
III. BORGU.
16. Borgu.
17. Kamberri.
18. Sungawa.
19. Dandowa.
I\'. NUPE.
20. Ganagana.
21. Bini.
22. Kede.
23. Nupe.
254
V. Kontagora.
24. Dakakari.
VI. SOKOTO.
25. Gimbanawa.
26. Habe.
27. Kebawa.
28. Adarawa.
29. Gobirawa.
30. Fulani.
VII. Bass.\.
31. Igara.
32. Okpoto.
1^. Bassa Nge.
On the Anthropology of the Sudan Tribes.
VII. Bassa {coiitd.).
X. Kano {contd.). XII. Bauchi {ronid).
34. Bassa Komo.
68.
Yanduka.
104. Wurji.
35. Bassobu.
69.
Ruma.
105. Tangele.
36. Epi.
70.
Sulebawa.
71.
Kaura. XIII. Yola.
VIII. Nassarawa.
72.
Kamri.
106. Chamba.
■yj. Kwotto.
73-
Kussarda.
107. Mar far an.
38. Agatoo.
74-
Kurabo.
108. Hibango.
39. Apu.
75-
Durubi.
109. Mailni.
40. Arrago.
76.
Ingawa.
no. Batta.
41. Korro.
77-
lya.
III. Vere.
42. Gade.
78.
Marusa.
112. Gurin.
43. Yeskwa.
113. Giri.
44. Gwandara.
XI. MURI.
114. Ribadu.
45. Jaba.
79-
Munchi.
115. Dawari.
46. Kagoma.
80.
Kworaba.
116. Malabu.
47. Kaje.
81.
Masaba.
117. Song.
48. Kagoro.
82.
Haraba.
118. Zummu.
49. Alorroa.
83.
Nungoyo.
119. Goila.
50. Gannawari.
84.
Siteri.
120. Kilba.
85.
Gwondo.
121. Marghi.
IX. Zaria.
86.
Tungobo.
122. Hona.
51. Gwari.
87.
Kumu.
123. .Mboi.
52. Ungwai.
88.
Jukun.
124. Yanguru.
53. Bossa.
89.
Ankwe.
125. Libu.
54. Wakangara.
90.
Montoil.
126. Bozo.
55. Kamuku.
91.
Yergum.
127. Shillem.
56. Koriga.
92.
Burmawa.
128. Mbula.
57. Kedara.
93-
Gazum.
129. Bassama.
58. Jaba.
94.
Gurkawa.
130. Longuda.
59. Kolu.
95-
Djen.
131. Piri.
60. Katab.
96.
Wurubu.
132. Kombo.
61. Chawai.
133. Waja.
62. Kunama.
XII. Bauchi.
134. Jeravva.
97-
Kibyen.
135. Lala.
X. Kano.
98.
Sura.
136. Burra(orBabir).
63. Hausa.
99.
Angass.
64. Galadima.
100.
Duguri. X]
V. BORNU.
65. Gangara.
lOI.
Burra.
137. Fika.
66. Yerima.
102.
Ningi.
138. Kere Kere.
67. Kaiykia.
103.
Ari.
139. Biriri.
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
XIV. BORNU {contd.).
140. Keiuri.
141. Bedde.
142. Nguru.
143. Katabri.
144. Dalatori.
145. Borsari.
146. Bedigana.
147. Karabiri.
148. Manga.
149. Guji.
150. Shami.
151. Geidam.
152. Galligati.
153. Garza.
154. Burgo.
155. Maragawa.
156. Mobber.
157. Kanembu.
158. Gusa Mala.
159. Bimboa.
160. Gubis.
161. Bissegua.
162. Jungul.
163. Karaguaro.
164. Yajua.
165. Uje.
166. Ngunse.
167. Masu.
168. Wulo.
169. Kuli.
170. Mongonu.
171. Ngewa.
172. Marte Alia.
(b) In Adamawa (German). — I met only four more or less
independent tribes : — (i) Tangele, living in the mountains
north of Garua ; a small tribe, attacked several times by
German troops, but not brought into subjection. (2) The
Lam pagans, halfway between Garua and Marua, living
between the hills, not in villages, but in family hamlets. This
tribe, too, has been " palavered " by the Germans for attacking
some of the caravans that pass through their country. (3)
Rei-Buba, a very powerful tribe, probably the most powerful
pagan tribe in Adamawa. (4) The Musgun, a cattle owning
tribe between the Logone and the Shari. The Musgun enjoy
a comparatively high native civilisation. Their buildings are
very remarkable structures of mud.
(c) Tribes in the Shari-Chad Protectorate (French) :-
Arabs
Bagirmi
Sara-Kabba
Nilim
Korbol
6. Sango
7. Banda
8. Runga
9. Tuburi
10. Kuti
These tribes are all pagan with the exception of the Arabs
and the Bagirmi.
256
On the Anthropology of the Sudan Tribes.
(d) Anglo-Egyptian Sudan :—
I.
Bishareen.
21.
2_
Hadendowa. .
3-
Nubian.
22.
4-
Haning.
5-
Dar Fung.
23-
6.
Burun.
7-
Berta (three on Abyssinian
24.
Frontiers).
25-
8.
Shia.
26.
9-
Beir (Pilboar River).
27.
lO.
Barea (Mongalla Province).
28.
II.
Bere (Jebel Lafin— Bari tribes).
29.
12.
Makraka.
13-
Mombuttu.
30-
14-
Abu Rajah.
31-
15-
Mitu.
32.
1 6.
Mandara.
33-
17-
Njambara — (Jebelawa, on
Bahr-el-Jebel).
i8.
JurbeH (South of Rumbeck).
34-
19.
Ezande.
35-
20.
Digawi-Nyamnyani, speaking
many dialects.
36.
Bolanda (Jur River, probably
5,000 men).
Bongo (Tonj River, probably
1,000 men).
Golo (close to Wau, about
3,000 men).
Endogo.
Djur (close to Wau).
Shatt (close to Tshaktshak).
Kreish (near Dem Zubeir).
Banda.
Fertitawa (in the hills of the
Western Bahr-el-Ghazal).
Mandala (north of Kossenga).
Ngolgolawa (at Kossenga).
Furawa (Darfur Aborigines).
Nuba (South Kordofan,
twelve dialects, probably
languages).
Shilluk.
Dinka.
Nuer.
There are several more tribes in the Lado Enclave not
enumerated in the above list. Roughly speaking the tribes
north of 10 deg. N. are Mohammedans.
257
CHAPTER XIX.
On THE Mineral and Botanical Wealth of the Central
Sudan.
Iron, Lime, Granite — Sandstone — " Woolsacks" — Gold — Tin — Silver —
Rubber — Gum Arabic — Shea-Butter — Cotton — Future Exports.
The main geological formation of the Sudan is the Central
African ironstone plateau. This plateau commences within
150 miles of the west coast, and stretches with few breaks
right across to Abyssinia. We meet with it on the Upper
Nile, in the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province, we see it in the Shari-
Chad Protectorate, on the Congo, in Northern Nigeria, and
in the French Western Sudan. Ironstone usually appears
in porous lava-like shelves with here and there rough boulders
half imbedded in the sandy earth. Limestone is exceedingly
scarce, but clay, and that rich red clay, is of common occur-
rence. Red granite (syenite, from Syene, Assuan) forms
the barrier across the Nile at the first Cataract at the gates
of the Eastern Sudan.
Sandstone was the barrier through which the Niger broke
its way below Lokoja in the Central Sudan. Grauwacke,
basalt and similar ancient formations are the basis of the
Murchison Range and the Adamawa Mountains.
The sand of the desert keeps on encroaching upon the Lake
Chad region. The dunes are travelling southward through
Kanem, just as they have travelled northward in Tripoli. The
Sahara Desert grows ever larger, and unless the bush zone
is carefully guarded and afforestation resorted to on a large
scale, the northern parts of the Sudan will in time become
useless.
258
Mineral and Botanical Wealth of the Central Sudan.
The first barrier on the Shari we find close to the Nilim
Hills at the mouth of the Bahr-es-Salamat. The rock forma-
tions there are similar to those on the Middle Nile, where
Professor Dr. Link uses the term " woolsacks " for those
dark round stones that rise grotesquely out of the river.
The running water has glazed their surfaces and almost given
them the colour of basalt. Between Wadda and the Kotto
river sandstone stands out in magnificent and immensely
large monoliths reminding one in some places of the " Elbe
sandstone " mountains. Wind and water erosion has given
these rocks wild and picturesque forms, and they lie together
like giant families. In one of these families I found a large
cave. At another place the rocks rose 400 feet high above
and around a central amphitheatre. At another place again
close to the Kotto River a solid boulder called by the natives
the Mera rock is between 800 feet and 1,000 feet in height,
and as it stands on the top of a hill, the height of the whole
of it above the little brook that runs at the foot of the hill is
about 1,300 feet.
The water-shed between the Kotto and the Bahr-el-Arab
consists of granite, greenstone and quartz, the latter holding
considerable deposits of copper and mica.
Traces of gold were found on one of the tributaries of the
Upper Benue in Adamawa on the border of ^French and German
territory.
In Northern Nigeria on the Bauchi plateau^large deposits
of tin which are being worked already should form a con-
siderable asset in the future development of that protectorate.
A certain amount of lead and silver, besides galena and bitu-
men, are minerals that are also found, and might ^^be worked
in the future.
In German Adamawa there is a good dearof silver, but coal
and oil have not yet been found.
As to the botanical wealth of the Sudan, so little has it been
259 s 2
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
exploited up till now, that a very vast development in that
direction is possible.
Botanically, the Sudan is the bush region lying between the
virgin forests of the Congo and the West African Coast in the
south and the Sahara Desert zone in the north. Along the
rivers we have gallery forests ; on the ironstone plateau
open bush with here and there bamboo jungles ; in the low-
lying parts papyrus swamps ; in the Bauchi Hill country and
in Adamawa open grassland ; and around Lake Chad, in
Wadai, Darfur, and Kordofan, steppe and a little further
south gum bush.
In the southern parts of the Sudan three different kinds of
rubber are collected by the natives, and by French, German,
and British companies exported to Europe,
Para rubber {Havea Braziliensis) is being planted by the
British Government in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and does
well.
In the north, gum-araBic is a valuable export article, and
is brought into the trade from Khartum, Garua, Yola, and
Timbuctu.
Shea trees grow in great abundance both on the Benue and
on the Shari, and the butternuts of that tree are largety ex-
ported. Cotton has been grown by the natives as long as
we have known anything about the Sudan, both in Nigeria
and on the Nile. There is absolutely no reason why the
Central and the Eastern Sudan should not be amongst the
greatest cotton countries in the world.
Products that await an adequate introduction into the
European markets are kola nuts, silk cotton, monkey bread
fruit and papyrus. The latter, pressed on the Upper Nile,
should form a useful material for paper. Kola is a magnificent
stimulant without being an intoxicant.
Silk cotton is a most deliciously soft material, but the surface
of its fibre is too smooth for spinning.
260
Mineral and Botanical Wealth of the Central Sudan.
Monkey bread fruit, tasting like cabin biscuit and lemon,
might become a very useful food.
Spirits (methylated) could be prepared out of guinea-corn
or yam, products that would hardly pay to export in their
natural state.
These are a few suggestions of potential wealth that awaits
the enterprise of this or the next generation. Other products
such as sugar cane might be grown on the Upper Nile. Various
woods (red wood, mahogany, ebony, &c.) have formed and
will form a source of wealth for the lands of the Sudan.
261
CHAPTER XX.
The Mecca Pilgrimage.
Route — My Caravan — Timbuctu Caravan.
The movement which has had and will have a permanent
influence upon the anthropological and sociological con-
ditions of the Sudan is the Mecca Pilgrimage of the Moslems.
The Koran teaches that once in a lifetime every good Moslem
should visit Mecca, and thus fulfil one of the five conditions
which are necessary to secure the way to future bliss.
The usual route taken by such pilgrims from the Central
and the West Central Sudan is through the great cities of
Northern Nigeria, Sokoto, Kano, Bauchi, Kuka on Lake
Chad, and then by way of Dikoa and Kusseri through
Wadai, Dar-fur, and Kordofan to Khartum.
During the various wars in the Sudan this route has been
changed at different times. When Rabba was Sultan of
Dikoa, all the caravans passed through his capital, but since
Germany has taken possession of Adamawa, and is exacting
a toll from all caravans, the pilgrims go round the north end
of the lake, that is to say, through French territory, and
make their way through Kanem up the Shari Valley to Fort
Archambault.
During my stay at Fort Archambault in May and June, 1909,
five caravans, numbering from live to 200 people each, passed
through the place on their way to Mecca, and this was not the
season for travelling. There can be little doubt that some
10,000 pilgrims are annually on the road from the Central
Sudan to the great City of Islam.
262
The Mecca Pilgrimage.
From Fort Archambault the caravans go through Sello,
Ngore, Komsenga, Konodobbo, Bongobolo, Ngodjo, Kobana,
Ndele, and then by way of Ganda, Duvas, Gula, Min Gella,
Min Andal, to Keffi Genji.
During the whole length of this route one finds every 20
or 30 kilometres apart a pilgrim camp, consisting of from 10
to 30 huts built of grass. The latter half of this route, that
is to say, from Ndele to Keffi Genji, is impracticable in the
rainy season, as some eight or ten large mountain torrents
block the road. These rivers, after the rains, cannot be
forded, and there are no bridges or boats. By going southward
through the bush I opened a new route for the traders and the
pilgrims, which will probably in the future take the place of
the old northern route, as it is shorter and has only the Kotto
River to deal with. The trees I caused to be thrown into the
river should enable any caravan to build a permanent bridge
within 24 hours. Men, without women and children, can go
across now without difficulty.
At Keffi Genji the pilgrim route continues to the north-
east by way of Kabbe Luzum, Bahr-el-Arab, Majabera, Lideja,
Nuhut, El-Obeid to Omdurman.
The distances as given to me by several leaders of caravans
were as follows : —
Keffi Genji
Kabbe Luzum
Kogi Bahr-el-Arab
Majabera
Lideja
Nuhut
El Obied
Omdurman
5 days.
5 days.
6 days.
13 days with water, 7 days
without water.
2 days.
8 days.
17 days.
263
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
From Omdurman the road continues by way of Berber and
Suakim to Djedda and then to Mecca.
A caravan leaving Timbuctu in the Western Sudan would
probably be a year to a year and a half on the road. They
usually start out, especially if a caravan is under the leader-
ship of an important chief or the son of a chief, with a
large number of cattle, horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, &c.
There are also a considerable number of old men and
women and childreii in such a caravan. Practically all
these drop out on the road. They die or are sold. The
boys and young women are slaves which are taken as
easily transported coinage to Mecca, where they are turned
into ready money.
The caravan which accompanied me, while suffering con-
tinually, only lost one of their old men. They had been ver\^
poor when they joined me at Fort Archambault, and I think
on the whole they were better off when they left me at Kefh
Genji than they were before.
Another caravan which was just ahead of me was led by
the eldest son of the Sultan of Timbuctu, a young man of
about 32 years of age, who had studied in the Moslem Univer-
sity at Fez in Morocco and at Keirouan in Tunis. I had met
him twice at Busso and at Fort Archambault on the Shari.
We had exchanged presents and he had become exceptionally
friendly. Altogether he was one of the most intelligent men
I have met on this journey across Africa. When he left the
Shari, he had with him some 500 head of cattle, 50 donkeys,
15 horses, and 150 people ; and when I saw him again at
Keffi Genji (he had taken the northern route through the
mountains) he was in a starving condition. He had lost
two-thirds of his people on the road, all his cattle, all his
donkeys ; had, I think, but one horse left, and found himself
in a pitiable plight. As all my oxen and horses had gone too,
I could do little for him. 1 wished him to come with me to
264
The Mecca Pilgrimage.
Wau, the capital of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, but he wanted to press
on towards Omdurman, following the old road.
I met these caravans with their women and children trekking
towards their promised land in large numbers, but I have only
seen them come back in ones and twos. Wiry, lean, shy-eyed
men of 35. The others remained on the road, or have dis-
appeared in Mecca.
The religious enthusiasm and the fanaticism with which
many of the pilgrims are imbued, demands and secures the
respect and the admiration of the pagans who are thus attracted
to the Crescent faith.
265
CHAPTER XXI.
The Moslem Political Danger.
Pioneers of Civilisation — Deserts and Religion — Spread of Islam — Slavery
Dying.
" Our King asks nothing of any man
More than our King himself has done."
— Kipling.
The self-sacrificing devotion of our Government Represen-
tatives in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and the Niger Terri-
tories, who form to-day the vanguard of European civilisation,
the powerful agents of peace and justice, is dealing with
problems of which our quiet citizens in the Homeland cannot
conceive. Out there be3'0nd the swampy lands of the sudd
region rules a Naval Lieutenant over a land as large as Wales ;
a man, not yet 30, who lays down laws, punishes evil-doers,
establishes markets, bridges rivers, makes roads, drills soldiers,
and with his two or three dozen warriors is ready to fight any
invading army led by robber chiefs from the north ; a man
who has secured and who holds the respect of the natives.
He explores and survej^s the land, settles the unsettled districts,
and proves himself a father of his people, a man who, at home,
in his simple unassuming way, passes unobserved and unknown,
one of the Empire builders of to-day, one of many. Mission-
aries who, at one time, were the pioneers and path-finders
into the lands of Central Africa, have stepped back in the Sudan
to second and third rank. All honour to the Colonial and
Foreign Offices and their Representatives for the magnificent
work they are doing in Africa. If missionaries to-day cannot
be leaders of our Government Representatives, they might,
at least, be assistants, and by carrying Christian civilisation
266
The Moslem Political Dano-er.
to the pagans before these become Mohammedans, prevent
the unification of the various divergent elements of the Sudan
urder the Crescent, and with it the possibility of seeing raised
there at any time the green flag of the Holy Moslem War
against our representatives of Christian Europe.
The orographical conditions of the earth's surface have had
much to do with the distribution of the rehgions of the
world.
It was the silence of the desert that prepared the prophets.
Moses in the Desert of Sinai ; Christ, the founder of the
Christian faith, in the Desert mountains of Moab ; and
Mohammed in the Desert hills near IMecca.
It was in the mountains and the deserts that persecuted
devotees of various creeds found refuge ; the Kopts in the
oases of the Lybian Desert, and the last remnants of the
Ethiopian Christian church in the mountains of Abyssinia.
Buddhism made its home on the roof of the world in the
Thibetan wilderness ; and the modern reform movement of
Islam, Sinussism has made its headquarters in the oases of
Kufra and Borku, the last unexplored regions of Africa.
Paganism, driven out by the Crescent faith from the fruitful
plains of the northern half of the Sudan, took refuge in the
mountains of the Murchison Range, the Bauchi hill country,
in Adamawa, the Mandara ^Mountains, the sudd region, and
the more inaccessible parts of the Shari Valley. It built
fortifications in these mountains, such as the wall that runs
along the northern ridge of the ]\Iurchison Range, constructed
by the Burmawa, to defend themselves against the mounted
troops of Mohammedan Bauchi.
The barrier, which nature had built against the advance
of the religion of Mohammed in Central Africa, had been
made the best use of by the war-like, indigenous tribes of
those lands, and successfully they had maintained their
independence and their fetish worship.
267
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Through the conquest of the European Powers both of the
Mohammedans in the northern parts of the Sudan and the
pagans in the south, through the estabhshment of peace, the
encouragement of commerce, and the opening of those regions
by a net-work of new highways, railways, and river communi-
cations, the better education of the Moslem and the prestige
connected with this creed are enabling him to spread the
faith of Mohammed in an almost unprecedented way amongst
the independent pagan tribes.
The Central Sudan is at present in a state of religious solu-
tion, and should a fanatical rising take place there after the
tribes have been won for the Crescent faith, such a rising may
have very serious consequences.
The German Government in Adamawa is directly and
indirectly advancing and supporting the spread of Mohamme-
danism. At Garua, the Government centre on the Upper
Benue, a Freed Slaves' Home for liberated slave children
has been established. These liberated pagan slave children
are educated in the Mohammedan faith and sent to the Mosque
regularly every Friday.
I was informed by the Colonial Director in 1904 in Berlin,
that there were no independent pagan tribes left in Adamawa,
but that these tribes were the slaves of the Mohammedans.
This was a mistake.
The following four tribes have never been conquered by
the Fulani Mohammedans : — '■
(a) The Rei-Buba people.
(b) The Tangele.
The latter even now cannot be visited by the white Govern-
ment officials, much less by their Mohammedan enemies.
(c) The Lam pagans.
(d) Musgun tribe.
The British Government in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
is also involuntarily advancing Mohammedanism amongst the
268
The Moslem Political Danger.
pagans in the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province. When Great Britain
occupied that province in 1899 the land was entirely pagan.
To-day it is being permeated with the Crescent faith. The
military in that province are recruited from the pagan tribes.
As soon as the men enlist they have to swear their oath of
allegiance to the Khedive of Egypt, they are circumcised
and made Mohammedans. Friday is kept as a day of rest,
and Sunday as a workday. Should they have children, those
children are educated by a Mohammedan Malam (teacher)
and taught the Koran and the Arabic language. If the
soldiers return to their tribes on being dismissed the army
they carry of course their religion, as well as their Mohammedan
clothes with them.
The possibilities of trade also encourage the Mohammedan
merchants, who are the best emissaries of Islam, not onty to
visit the pagan tribes, but frequently to make their homes
amongst the people, build mosques, and with their considerable
prestige, to succeed in spreading their faith. As long as the
white Government officials of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
(being paid by the Khedive) as the representatives of Moham-
medan Egypt, and as long as the army of the Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan swears its oath to the Khedive and not to the Christian
King of Britain, advancing Mohammedanism will profit and
Christianity be at a discount. It is not the desire of the
British Government officials in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
to see Islam advance among the pagan tribes, and the Sirdar
is quite friendly to missionary enterprise among the pagans,
but our missionary attempts are not adequate and cannot hope
to cope with the efforts of the Mohammedans.
More than a century of exploration has let geographical light
into the Sudan. A dozen years of conquest have brought to
an end the fight of half a millenium between the Mohammedans
and the pagans . Slave raiding and slave trading is being rapidly
abolished, and a few years will see the last of it in Africa.
26q
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
I may be wrong in my fears that tlie conversion of the pagan
tribes of the Sudan to the Mohammedan faith will lead to
Africa's becoming a Mohammedan Continent, and that this
may mean, in case of a religious outbreak, stagnation of
European civilisation, and the re-introduction of the horrors
of slave raiding. The words of James Russell Lowell seem
very applicable to the present state of affairs in the Sudan —
" When a deed is done for freedom, through the broad earth's aching
breast
Runs a thrill of joy prophetic, trembling on from east to west,
And the slave, where'er he cowers, feels the soul within him climb
To that awful verge of manhood, as the energy sublime
Of a century bursts full-blossomed on the thorny stem of time.
" New occasions teach new duties ; time makes ancient good uncouth,
They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth
Lo ! before us gleam her camp-fires, we ourselves must pilgrims be.
Nor attempt the future's portal with the past's blood-rusted key."
Christian education assisting the magnificent work our
Government is doing to-day in those lands will avert the
threatened danger, and if each man does his duty any possible
crisis will be averted.
The last two children, the babes of the British Empire,
Northern Nigeria and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, should be
carefully tended. They have in them the rudimentary
elements, the seeds of a vast tropical empire.
" Fire and Sword in the Sudan " has shown in lurid light
and black shadow the sorrows of the Sudan.
" A Tropical Dependency " has drawn our attention to the
history of the evolution of some of the Sudan States.
" La Chutte de Rabba " tells us of the debacle of the
empire of the Napoleon of the Central Sudan.
Let us see to it that that which has been purchased with
many lives may not be lost by our negligence.
270
APPENDICES.
(A) Beri-Beri Proverbs and Sayings. About the Name ot a Tribe and
Linguistic Inexactitudes — Vocabularies.
(B) Meteorological Observations.
(C) Zoological Specimens and Collections.
(D) Trans-African Outfit.
271
APPENDIX A.
Beri-Beri Proverbs and Sayings.
1. Tama sugo diniabe, " Hope is the pillar of the world."
2. Leman sugo robe, " Property is the prop of life."
3. Kargenem kamuro yimia, niga ntsetso, " If thou givest thy heart to a
woman she will kill thee."
4. Kugui timi litsia, wu niga beantseskin, " I will pay thee when fowls get
teeth."
5. Afi nemketsindo yaye, wote kargenemga kamuro yimmi, " Whatever be
your intimacy, never give thy heart to a woman."
6. Kaliae afi nemgalantse yaye tatanem dibigo tseteni, " Whatever be
the goodness of a slave, he does not come up to a bad son."
7. Kalia ago kammersibe gani : kaliaro mersanemia, sima niga ntsetso,
"A slave is not a thing to be trusted ; if thou trustest a slave, he
will kill thee."
8. Angalte simian gani karga, kakalan karga, " Wisdom is not in the eye,
but in the head."
9. Mana kumuye ndi nemetsia, tilo gonem, tilo kolone, ///., " If a woman
speaks two words, take one and leave the other I " i.e., believe only
half of what a woman says.
10. Wuma mei " tsiga kamagunbe," ///., " I am King Elephant-bag," i.e.,
I am a king so strong that I could carry an elephant in a bag, or I
am so powerful as to think nothing too difficult for me.
11. Wu gesga gana ruske, kolonge, kura gongimba ? lit., " If I see a small
tree, shall I leave it and take a large one ? " i.e., if I have a chance
of marrying a young man whom I may easily manage, should I
pass him by and marry one who is too strong for me ?
12. Kedi kanadiben tsannavva, "At the bottom cf patience, there is
heaven."
About the Name of a Tribe and Linguistic Ine.xactitudes.
The large cannibal tribe inhabiting the south-western parts of the Bahr-el-
Ghazal, which has been usually known under the name of " Nj'am-Nyam,"
should be pronounced " Niamayam " with the accent on the middle " a." I
have repeatedly asked Chiefs belonging to this tribe the name of their
tribe, and have every time received the same answer, viz., not " Nyam
Nyam," but " Niamdyam."
The Arabs of the Bahr-el-Ghazal use an Arabic which contains a
considerable number of exaggerations. They call, for example, a small rock
"djebel" (a mountain). They call a village chief a sultan (the whole village
consisting of perhaps three huts). They call a brook a "chaur" (a gorge or
ravine), and they call any kind of river a " bahr " (the sea).
272
Appendix A,
The following vocabularies were carefully compiled on the Shari, and during
my stay at Fort Archambault. They have been verified several times, and
though, no doubt, imperfect in many respects, may be a help to students of
African Philology and be added to the Polyglotta Africana : —
English.
Bagirnii.
Sara.
soldier
mbanga
arkar
farmer
kadjanga-nabo
ndoro-barker
fisherman
mala kookanji
ngetube kanji
hunter
gau
gau
miller
tei
tei
chief
mbang
(12 in Bagirmi
country)
ngare
the great chief
maladunja
malakuledo
slave
paja
ngombang
captive
bage
bulo
rich man
mala rikiri
nge ngen jangai
government man
mala berima
kwom
poor man
mala ndo
nge ndo
poler „
mala ngadja
wonkakugerm ane
boat „
mala leltogo
ngo to
servant
adam
ngendor
I. son of king
kyroma
ngelmanalange
2. do.
ngarmoroba
do.
3- do.
mgardaba
do.
4. do.
ngarkilo
do.
queen
gumru
dietabe
man
debe
njage
55
ngabe
—
woman
ne
ndie
girl
nwanen bassa
wandidnie
boy
nwanengaba
wandingam
father
bobi
mbom
mother
kuni
kom
brother
mudji
ngokom
sister
mudji kunjun
komgudn
grandfather
/ ijambassa "1
tkakibobi J
kalebom
grandmother
kaki kuni
kakom
ancestor
kakolowa
kampmari
aunt
tuturu
tutu
young man
meiwa
babra
bearded old man
gada
ndigamgantok
old woman
moblo
bugga
young woman
manda
manda
273
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Erii^lish.
Bagirmi.
Sara.
balDy
wantiti
wanguddn
market chief
vugma
ngegate
eunuch
katurli
— •
general
padja
mala kilot
chief councillor
mbarma
—
princess
me rem
maram
water-buck
mburu
mburu
cob
kal
ja koko
kal
harnessed antelope
benja koro
benjakoro
reed-buck
njal
dau keri
pig
gari
bir
rat
wage
yeg
cow
mang
mang
pack-ox
mang digi
—
calf
njor-njel
—
bull
mang digi
—
stallion
sinda
kunda
mare
bargami
mande
filly
nwan sinda
sinda kudn
ass
koro
kasinda
sheep
batta
batta
goat
kata kalta
balbie
dog
mbisi
mbisi
cat
bato
mula
monkey
beti
busti
camel
lugma
lugum
lion
tobio
bol
leopard
kaga
kag
hyena
nigo
bong
giraffe
korlo
kol
elephant
kedgi
kede
rhino
berni
bel
buffalo
dogo
dogo
hartebeest
karia
kai
hippo
abo
abo
crocodile
mara
mar
fish
kanj i
kanji
duiker
njul
dul
goose
ndaba
—
crownbird
kilo
ndaanga
hawk
eliong
kuroli
hare
ome
dogum
guinea fowl
tanja
tanja
274
Appendix A.
English.
Bagirvii.
Sara,
pigeon
dere
dermus
crow
ga
kang
a seed-eating bird, size
kerive
kere
of pigeon
vulture
marlo
mal
bird
el
—
chicken
kinja
kilja
cock
kela
kera
butterfly
kebopot
kebopot
scorpion
dnin
kujina
centipede
kululu
kululu
white ant
njo
njo
fly
kong
kang
mosquito
elo
tul
wasp
beni
benl
serpent
kela
li
boa
mao
lingar
wood
kagatutu
kaga tutu
))
kigenje
gill
clay
murgo
—
sand
sinjak
—
shea-butter tree
tabur
kinja
bamboo
kaja
nal
palm
kan
ke
water
maui
maui
earth
nang ardi
nang
house
be
kudji
village
bengolo
begboy
stick
chilang
dungul
whip
marau
nde
saddle
sirdi
kar kag
reins
tam
tam
knife
kia
kijo
spear
njanga
ninge
sword
kasgar
kiengngal
bow
gildeling
kim nde
arrows
kesse
kessi
throwing-iron
njiga
mija
shield
gaba
nder
iron
togolo
togolo
brass
mbele
nina kas
lead
ndernu
udornu
steel
minja
minja
tin
tuta
tuta
275
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
English.
Bagirmi.
Sara.
silver
togi
togi
gold
dinar
—
hat
alengaua
—
trousers
njila
kubu
shirt
gumaji
gumaji
black tobe
boljil
kubugundu
shoe
sa
gabang
ring
kulum
—
bracelet
togigi
—
necklace
puss
—
anklet
toji jaujau
—
covercloth
bolne
boldie
belt
kokondera
—
leather
ndana
ngere
mat
mbogo
ndogo
sleeping mat
anga
—
paper
dega katta
kadkat
pipe
kol taba
djomang
bird feathers
mbim dabba
daba
head
mdjudjo
damde
hair
bi
bi
brain
nginja
gninja
forehead
natna
no
horns
kaja
gajeda
nose
emu
wum
eye
kamo
kum
ear
mbi
mbi
mouth
tara
tarn
teeth
njang
gogum
tongue
njilo
ndom
beard
mbia
mbia
cheek
njar
kotum
eyebrow
mbi kam
mbi dokum
neck
gorn
gom
throat
korbo
ngrkom
chest
kajr
kadum
belly
ngal
kjem
back
njunu
dunum
arm
djil
njil
hand
nandi
ngaljim
upper arm
bogn
bogn
lower „
kamji
kumjum
wrist
tjungu tim
kinga gim
shoulder
tardam
276
tardam
Appendix A,
English.
Bagirvii.
Sara.
fingers
nganji
gondjim
finger
wanj i
—
thumb
wanji ngols
wonjing boy
forefinger
njm de
ugin de
middle finger
wanjru bang
ugin gedana
gold „
wanji gal
wanj in gal
little „
wanji geda
wanj in gdu
nail
kogo
njelgim
palm of hand
ngalji
dadji
leg
nja
binja
foot
gidnja
giduga
upper leg
birugi
binjam
lower „
karja
kassem
knee
kamtyi
kumkije
heel
modgamte
ngirgandum
ankle
kamtjungu
kamtungu
toes
ngandja
ngandjam
sole of foot
damga
dandjam
heart
kogoma
takum
lungs
siraji
kadem
intestines
titigi
tim
stomach
bidigi
kunjong
liver
gangala
burum
breasts
mba
mba
navel
kum
takum
veins
ngria
ngre
skin
ndara
ndara
male sexual organ
ngidi
motum
female „
ngidue
modu
seat
puUa
mbrum
milk
si
mba
blood
mis
mis
bone
tjungo
kinge
meat
dja
da
guinea (white) corn
wa
we
„ (red)
gerto
goje
maize
massara
goddo
groundnuts
mundje
mundja
spinach
gudn
kinjer keng
^%%
kabakinja
kau
■>■>
kigele
balbaje
open square
poroi
dala
wall
ger
ger
door
farfar
takai
277
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
English.
Bagirmi.
Sara.
window
soi
tue
chair
kursi
—
roof
alna
aldo
stone
toto
mbal
brick
jello
—
beads
mede
modu
mountain
totongolo
mbalgobn
boat
kuntera
—
togo
to
lake
kulu
—
green grass
aliva munjogo
munjo
dry „
mu sasa
sasa
rope
kilamormo
kalamu
fire
podo
pur
smoke
sa podo
sapodo
coal
nal
njelpo
ashes
bungu
bu
pot
kole
njo
water pot
kalgo
kanja
„ bottle
(kado) kurgu
ku
arm knife
tshabakia
darlie
tree log
dartal
kangal
branches
kagapaga
kaganbi
tree
kaga
mbi
leaves
kam
kam
flowers
pinja
putu
field
bai
ndo
forest
koro
wale
river
ba
mbo
rain
barua
bar
wind
lele
lel
sun
kaja
kad
moon
napo
na
stars
pinga pinga
Konjo
clouds
morgom
ndi
year
lua
kal
month
nabo
na
day
njakede
do koge
one
kedde
kogi
two
sap
djo
three
muta
muta
four
so
so
five
mi
mi
six
mega
miega
278
Appendix A.
English.
Bagirmi.
Sara.
seven
kili
kili
eight
marta
marta
nine
dozo
dozo
ten
dokame
dokame
eleven
dokame kar keddi
kutigegek kogo
twelve
dokame kar saba
kutigede dgo
thirteen
dokame kar muta
kutigede muta
twenty
dngrap
kutidjo
thirty
dngmura
kutmuta
forty
dngoo
kutso
hundred
aru
bu
thousand
dubbu
dubbu
the first
awal
kete
the second
kai sap
kai ndjo
the third
kai muta
kai muta
thing
ngaz
malato
great
ngolo
boy
few, small
mbassa
mdei
plenty
noga
ngai
hot
sungo
tinge
cold
kulu
sol
w6t
tala
tal
dry
tutu
tutu
short
galia
godji
long
njam
ngal
thin
kumarwe
kalaman
thick
ginda
ginda
all
ped
malang
old
bono
kumara
young, new
'• kidji
kidgi
sick
moie
ratur
fat
bubu
yibu
mad
badri
black
yil
ndul
white
njabe
jagnda
blue
kadrapo
—
green
dibba
ndil
bright red
adje
kir
red
mbong
—
dark red
koloo
kolod
brown
tolea
—
good, beautiful
ngela
madji
ugly
keru
majala
quick
kenoojo
279
ngodingai
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Etiglish.
Bagirmi
Sara.
slow
angel angel
njige njige
dead
woi
jo
dark
yil
ndul
light
kudji
kai
angry
ngal sungo
temtingam
content, happy
mange
mousei
clever
nagaletu
ngernanjingai
stupid
angalegoto
doiwalagele
flat
pugli
lomaji
lazy
bili
ranjale
go
kabe
au
come
de
ide
speak
dega
edda
be silent
digale
iddale
run
ain
ain
get up
ingra
indo
mount
al
indo
descend
dirnang
isboro
jump
nanga
ibal
call
bardibe
bardo
weep
no
no
laugh
koi kago
ogo
sleep
torbi
itobi
rest
worga
orti
swim
ngal
ngalman
fly
marlo
mar
eat
sa
usa
drink
kajo
unei
be hungry
bo
bora kem
be thirsty
kumjo
kinde
be blind
g-ul
kumto
be deaf
mbiki
mbinbe
fight
do
ndo
kill
tolinge
tolon
fish
abe ko kanji
awo kanji
hunt
gau
gau
fear
bolodjo
bolongai
steal
bogo
ngedgadji
break
taje
tete
breathe
eu
tako
hear
welau
welau
see
aka
ano
smell
ithe
ette
taste
sa
esse
280
Appendix A.
English.
feel
marry
sell
buy
borrow
play
salt
friend
enemy
thief
coward
wing
tail
fin
cotton
herd
jujuhouse
soul
spirits
priest
sacrifice
god
I
thou
he
a, an
yes
no
always
never
alone
with
nothing
where
there
yesterday
to-day
to-morrow
night
thunder
heaven
hell
evil spirit
millet beer
BagirDii.
Sara.
du
do
wuine
tadie
ndogo
mang
kabendogo
aumang
kidda
kire
bugo
bine
kassa
kate
kaba
madi
boelau
sanagi
malabogo
ngadje
malbol
malbol
ngieng
bage
njila
bong
tjungo
kinge
tumu
kre
kojo
tongai
kudjimalakuga
kudjikege
nafr
,
mulega
kudu
bamboli
mong
olundi
ngekege
yamalaje
ndi
1
madi
i
madi mund
ku
ngela
madji
bnali
brengale
dindin
bumbi
goto
tingandat
kedekile
kogi
mala
ko
gotto
gotto
lold
la
nu
sai
tebere
tagela
janigi
bola
pagara
buri
njo
ndo
singa
lede
samaa
ndo
anjapodo
kalmatu
bulo
yu
kas
281
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
English.
Bagirmi.
Sara.
drunk
sigre
kasrau
medicine
kaga
kag
wound
du
do
thorn
kwono
kwono
poison
Kurkul
ngnauja
lightning
ada
oroba
war
wei
kauro
road
debu
deb
shade
ngil
ndil
wash
njogo
ndogo
load
kalgo
kania
bind
njog
Agricultural Tools.
donia
shorthanded spade
korom
korom
long spade
ngan
ngan
hand plough
kos
kos
hoe
kojo
kos
axe
kongo
kinge
hatchet
kuku
Vocabulary in the Languages of —
English.
Nilim.
Korbol.
Sango.
soldier
mikorgo
bingi
turugu
farmer
wai
wal
kobe
fisherman
abkian
gobu
banjere
hunter
gau
gau
tarjoro
hunter with gun
dubla
hulbulu
gombe
chief
ngwai
bal
makunji
slave
han
nra
maringo
servant
ober
ugru
kori
rich man
mal dubla
nriagua
njieie kermingi
white man
dum
kumu
Arab
poor man
wobal
wohul
ditisange
poler (boatman)
kwarnera
kwanku
sotekai
captive
ngar
paja
kabita
son of king
njanungwai
liganebang
malingi
queen
ngweii
bangi
wari
daughter of king
maram
maram
walekete
282
Appendix A.
English.
Nilim.
Korbol.
Sango.
trader
kargo
kargo
gera
rider
honaar
arsu
ndudju
house-owner
likau
lukmai
nda
man
bur
buru
zo
woman
i
i
wali
girl
mama
mama
malingi
boy
n
n
kori
father
ba
eba
baba
mother
na
ija
mama
brother
un
mini
dogolimbi
sister
jama
naun
mamatimbi
grandfather
nka
ema
walekuta
grandmother
emaka
kahim
waletimama
timbi
ancestor
kahimka
mahini
korigiri
young man
makway
wudja
—
bearded old man
bogbor
chilibil
korikuta
old woman
ka
ma
walegiri
young woman
maima
ima
waui range
baby
mama
mama
kojoko
market chief
kaskoja
waikasko
sotikera
eunuch
—
—
kabita
general
padja
padja
—
councillor
bidange
bibu
sotigera
horns
ku
kau
litilu
cow
nje
nje
—
pack-ox
njeinia
njelejek
—
calf
njema
njema
—
bull
nje ila
ila
—
stallion
ar
ar
—
mare
arwai
arjal
—
filly
ama
arma
—
hare
suamni
njam
—
ass
laker
koro
—
mule
lakeri
koroi
—
sheep
ham
pjam
—
goat
boi
bie
—
dog
sau
sa
—
cat
bato
bato
—
rat
duabe
nijal
—
water-buck
buri
boro
njama
cob
njambena
kwar
—
harnessed ante-
njamboy
gru
—
lope
—
283
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
English.
Nilim.
reed-buck
sale
j"J^'
suo
giraffe
quari
elephant
ni
hon
kong
leopard
dabr
hyena
djina
rhino
wulba
buffalo
kwar
hippo
kul
monkey
koga
dog-faced monkey
njinjang
kaimar
tiba
hartebeest
njamnjam
duiker
bagri
bird
njan
hawk
njau
guinea fowl
sula
vulture
kjini
crow
gabal
chicken
tor
cock
tojemna
pigeon
gugol
duck
ubri
crownbird
gar
butterfly
njau
fly
kini
mosquito
huni
scorpion
sugra
centipede
dali
white ant
tira
wasp
deuri
ant
mun
flea
bol
serpent
ko
boa
cheni
fish
kjau
wood
tela ori
clay
gang
sand
jan
great tree
teladeng
shea-butter nut
tarn
bamboo
iri
palm
teladola
Korbol.
sar
suo
kwere
bela
kwong
dar
giel
woulba
kwaringe
kuini
jeja
njinjang
kuiba
njambena
begri
njangwa
njamwa
sula
kuira
quana
tar
tarkora
kumugula
ubri
bil
njauwa
kui
numu
sugra
yoko
sal
kui borono
mini
goa
ngol
njambang
sab
telaola
gang
sinjak
telagbol
tan
ira
detela
Sango.
kondo
kanana
284
Appendix A.
English.
Nilivi.
KorboL
water
ndu
mena
earth
house
negri
li
lau
lu
village
sidang
luobol
stick
nguru
dur
whip
ngar
man
saddle
gobnu
sirdi
reins
ajam
ajam
knife
koni
ku
spear
piani
wura
sword
bardole
kargar
throwing-iron
njak
ndak
shield
bula
ngam
iron
sal
sal
brass
njengri
bori
steel
ira
irau
gold
dindar
dindar
tin
miemassar
miemassar
button
geru
geru
hat
algaba
algaba
trousers
njila
njila
shirt
nguami
ngumaslin
black tobe
sergol
kurgagoi
shoe
kungu
sergu
ring
kulam
kulum
necklace
babal
sa
anklet
modge
ternga
beadbelt
djadjameru
djadjameru
covercloth
siri
kurga
belt
pisili
pisili
leather
mar
ba
mat
nan
kilba
sleeping mat
ru sangala
raga
paper
degakar
degakat
tobacco pipe
gival
gura
tobacco
toba
toba
bird feather
ngwem
tab
head
sul
sili
hair
sulbui
hjun
brain
uma
uma
forehead
kumu
kuimu
nose
hui
hu
eye
dji
djih
ear
tula
tau
285
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
English.
mouth
tooth
tongue
beard
cheek
eyebrow
neck
throat
chest
belly
back
arm
hand
upper arm
lower „
wrist
shoulder
fingers
thumb
forefinger
middle finger
gold „
little „
nail
back of hand
palm „
leg
foot
upper leg
lower „
knee
heel
ankle
toes
sole of foot
heart
lungs
intestines
stomach
liver
breasts
navel
veins
skin
Nilim.
Ko>-bol.
mu
mu
nangui
njewe
ndila
lila
bougo
nguma
mushir
mushir
ndijhul
ndjibui
an
albla
gumel
bag
tel
di
hul
huli
fin
biri
tang
da
par
kai
dabormu
tang
uma
bi!
dagi
tangji
gangdubu
ganbu
dangkim
dagmi
keg
tangmim
dama
tangma
tangbal
kanul
mini
minitiri
monmini
kaubmini
dakange
tangkam
dagberi
tankbiri
dahul
tanghuli
nang
nai
deibagri
nangbiri
nangabue
gwab
deipier
dula
ndeindurgu
dahrunu
nangiria
neisowol
nangili
nangbo
neimi
nangnui
deihul
huli
nirimu
nirhuni
ma
nina
ngau
ger
gar
gal
dula
gilal
mah
mara
komnu
kulu
nju
kroa
war
war
286
Appendix A.
English.
Nilim.
male sexual organ
kina
female „ „
mor
seat
lo
milk
huma
meat
njam
blood
yo
bone
uma
millet
mul
white guinea corn
bari
red
yakame
maize
kirbal
groundnut
yari
spinach
daulu
egg
tohwane
open square
ulbairi
wall
nagri
door
parpar
window
limu
chair
goblo
roof
irre
stone
kura
brick
legrimra
beads
pieri
mountain
nal
boat
guar
lake
tier
green grass
moe
dry
tieni
rope
tobri
fire
la
smoke
la shim
coal
la iri
ashes
borum
water pot
kandu
pot
kula
load
sir
water bottle
bol
arm knife
konigi
tree trunk
onitum
branches
telaberge
tree
tela
leaves
nari
flower
lop
field
wal
Korbol.
qual
tilba
muna
huma
njam
yu
bil
mini
mana
yakam
massar
ler
kula
tohwa
ungura
bob
parpar
ru
irrendal
nal
lomal
sa
ta
qua
mini
ma
bin
tumu
la
la shim
lai
tom
munaka
la
bit
gur
kulu
glaamaja
telareal
tela
uar
korge
gla
287
From Hausa
land to Egypt,
through the Sudan.
E?igHsh.
Nilim.
Korbol.
forest
ta
tila
river
ndu
muna
rain
hini
hidan
wind
sau
kunasau
breath
sabie
barngo
sun
lula
lula
moon
pie
hau
stars
mura
mera
clouds
ndela
rila
year
angiga
al
month
piebru
haughi
day
naiburu
bagulu
road
ul
beel
shade
lal
lilla
to wash
um
sobi
to bind
baula
bola
shorthanded spade
munatela
munatela
long spade
munagri
guri
hand plough
muna
mina
hoe
banga
banga
axe
qual
qualhwa
matchet
beilo
beilo
lightning
djuro
tungul
thunder
ndelamar
tari
heaven
ndela
rila
hell
lawaru
wurla
evil spirit
wulungrum
duru
beer
ham
mba
drunk
hamkar
bakara
medicine
tila
hjol
wound
hura
hura
thorn
uma
in
poison
kuma
telamna
war
wasal
sahvi
night
sjel
sahuli
yesterday
lila
sala
to-day
kekammi
tele
to-morrow
gan
dumrili
fat
sergol
kurgagoi
salt
boe
ba
friend
pakwar
tora
)j
tamja
kaulega
thief
sila
njogar
coward
airi
elia
288
Appendix A.
English.
Nilim.
Korbol.
wing
da'
hjol
tail
hina
njau
fin
kama
dil
cotton
njere
njere
herd
dubla
giva
jujuhouse
teladubla
telagua
priest
nbal
woboli
sacrifice
gu mina
bogmen
soul
ndela hunu
lelahun
god
ndela
muai
one
muru
glu
two
mdiri
iri
three
teri
ter
four
njel
pau
five
duni
lor
six
tar
tar
seven
lunga
luir
eight
tonde
hogna
nine
ungrasa
lolor
ten
guloel
tango
eleven
njamuru
taralu
twelve
njadiri
tariri
twenty
gulinderi
gulilre
thirty
guliberi
gulilter
forty
gulinjel
gulilpau
hundred
aru
aru
thousand
dubbu
dubbu
the first
burru
glu
the second
njim
bom
the third
njabe teri
wudo
the fourth
njabenjel
luga pau
thing
wei
wal
great
dau
bal
small
mar
mama
plenty
dubla
melgoa
hot
piaumu
djumu
cold
tier
tie
wet
mele
meu
dry
ori
ula
short
dul
duglu
long
bau
tuglu
thin
njau
ka
thick
tau
ter
all
lebla
tiri
289
From Hausaland to Egypt, throucrh the Sudan.
English.
old
new
sick
black
white
blue
green
bright red
red
dark red
brown
beautiful
ugly
quick
slow
dead
dark
light
angry
happy
clever
stupid
flat
lazy
hungry
thirsty
go
come
speak
be silent
run
rise
mount
descend
jump
call
weep
laugh
sleep
rest
swim
fly
eat
drink
Nilim.
Korbol.
lila
sala
mani
bula
tuna
juwi
gol
goi
bor
bil
kabla
kafia
dibba
dibba
hina
hjat
jaua
djan guru
war
ba
lobor
bil
bari
bal
bijim
njal
jal
ju
djimammaw
urchnunu
ulu
au
uldoi
bibi
gulbeiri
ulgrua
ulla
hulina
tamuare
kau
jahul
liga hjunu
barelol
balhiri
ulhjan
bingi
gugbidjam
bal
dulakal
nula
dunjikam
munaji
si
wuri
hina
wei
jaja
liga
kajalo
liga u
ije
iju
waru dal
waire
hwan
waire
girlor
iunu
hwan ndal
nwar
suarum
jura
kei
keji
nini
jim
lelom
long
bwor
bwor
ndu hwei
hije
tina
kuira
waituri
tu
ni
umi
290
Appendix A.
English.
be blind
be deaf
fight
kill
fish
hunt
fear
steal
break
hear
see
smell
feel
marry
sell
buy
borrow
play
yes
no
always
never
alone
here
there
my
thy
I
thou
he
she
we
you
they
Nilim. .
Korbol.
dinira
ditiri
huru
toitiri
saldumgu
marga
hunum
hungwa
kikgau
wubu
simhina
urumira
wueiri
ilya
sila
njogr
hau
hijam
sultain
kauluga
legil
lagi
sau
uluni
hura
hura
ichau
kuiga
hona
ula
tjimhuna
krawula
balga
balga
tula
tau
a
lo
mini
bena
dja muteli
liga lem kale
teni
tiri
buru
glu
lile
do
pi
hui
la
di
ku
ku
bam
njimla
bi
njilda
bamdo
wole
mumkoi
bigun
bile pi
—
291
APPENDIX B.
Meteorological Observations.
The following Tables of Observations have been compiled for four years
for Northern Nigeria, showing the average temperature, rainfall and
humidity : —
Meteorological Returns for 1904 to 1907.
1904.
Temperature.
Rainfall.
S
E
.S >.
3
S
3
P
bo
c
mou
ncbe
lean
lumi
CO
C/5
Pi
^
< ■ ^- ■
Zungeru ...
103
56
47
79
51 -I
63-6
Lokoja ...
102
57
45
80
41 72
—
Yola
107
60
47
80
33 77
—
Ilorin
1
Kano
1
Kontagora
Sokoto
i- Co
m plate
statist
ics not
availabl
e.
Zaria
i
1
In Protectorate...
J
1905.
Temperature.
Rainfall.
e
E
c
>.
E
P.
.
c <^
0 13
Je
Shade
mini
bo
c
rt
c
4i
Amou
inche
Mean
humi
Zungeru ...
Lokoja ...
Yola
Ilorin
Kano
Kontagora
Sokoto ...
Zaria
In Protectorate
106
lOI
108
106
105
102
106
102
118
56
53
58
53
39
57
50
43
39
50
80
48
81
50
81
53
78
66
76
45
82
56
79
59
74
79
1
78
41 jl
49-64
4276
47-02
36 "69
46-28
51 -27
43 '53
58
72
73
53
63
63
63-67
292
Appendix B.
1906.
Temperature.
Rainfall.
3
C/3
C
c
Amount in
inches.
Mean of
humidity.
Zungeru ...
Lokoja ...
Yola
Ilorin
Kana
Kontagora
Sokoto ...
Zaria
In Protectorate
105
104
120
55
55
40
50
49
.
80
80
81
78
51-83
42-27
63
72
77-5
1907.
Temperature.
Rainfall.
S
C/2
S
C/3
C
ri
<
u
Zungeru ...
Lokoja
Yola
Ilorin
Kana
Kontagora
Sokoto ...
Zaria
In Protectorate
103
102
91
109
120
56
!!
41
52
41
A7
A7
50
57
79
81
79
77
81
78
37-16
36-68
25 -62
19-86
32 "12
61
71
50
52
58-5
293
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Average, 1904 to 1908. 4 years.
Temperature.
Rain
£
S
C3
c
E c
C/2
m
f^
^
<3-
c"5
Zungeru
104-25 i
Lokoja
102 -25
Yola
107 '5
Ilorin
106
Kano
98 '
Kontagora ...
102
Sokoto
107-5
Zaria
102
In Protectorate
103 -69
55 75
55
59
53
40
57
51
43
51
72
48-5
80
43 '19
47-25
80-25
47-97
48-5
80-5
38-26
53
78
47-02
58
76-5
31-15
45
82
46-28
56-5
80
26-59
59
74
51 -27
51 '97
78-91
41-09
61 -4
71 -67
73
51
63
52
63
62 -15
If we compare these lists with the following tables which have been com-
piled by Captain Lyons for the Nile Valley,* we find that the mean annual
temperature is higher in Northern Nigeria than in the Nile Valley ; but that
we have no temperature in Northern Nigeria that can be compared with the
temperature of Assouan on the Nile, where during the summer months
the average is about 95°. The temperature at several posts in Northern
Nigeria falls lower than in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and there should
therefore be places in Northern Nigeria that can vie in healthiness
with those of the Upper Nile. Luxor, Assouan, Wady-Halfa and
Khartum have now become wonderful health resorts, and there seems
no reason why the plateau lands of the Murchison Range should not be at
least as healthy, not only in winter, but all the year round.
* Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, July, 1910, p. 211, " Climatic Influences in
Egypt and the Eastern Sudan," by Capt. H. G. Lyons, D.Sc. F.R.S.
294
M
ea n
MonthI
y Rainfall.
PLACE
Jan.
Feb.
Man
Apr.
May.
June.
July.
Aug.
Sep.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Zomb a .
n
gg
^
^
^
D.es Salam.
^
Zanzi bar.
^J
Nairobi .
^
Bu k o b a .
^
^^
^y^^l
1^^
Entebbe.
_
jUH
Wad el a i .
^
Ghabe Shambe.
^^
Wau.
1
El Obeid.
]_
Kodok.
Khartu m.
Adis Abeba.
1
^^^
Addi Ugri.
1
I
500 "ym or 20 Inches
Based on d^te up to 1908.
295
Mean Monthl^y Atmospheric Pressure
STATION.
Mesn Ann Pres
Ins. "^.'m.
Jan.
Feb
Mar.| Apr.
Ma^
June
Ju[y
Aug
Sep.
Oct.
Nov
Dec.
Alexa ndri a.
Z9B9
759-10 L^^^
^
^^
^
Port Said.
Z9-9I
755- GB ^^^^J^ n^^^^H^^^^"
.^^
s
Cairo ( He! wa n.)
29-60
75/-65 ll^^^^^ ~"^^^^BI^P^^'
.-4
Ass i ut.
29-76
755-55^H^fc^^ 1^^^^^^^^^^^
.^3
Dakhia Oasis.
29-59
^1
As wa n .
2958
75/-4-Z ^1^^^^. "^^^^^^B^^^^
^s
Wadi Haifa.
29 52
749 72 |H^^^^ ""^^^B
^m
w
^
^B
Me row e .
29-04
737-59 ^^^^!^ "^^^^^B^^^^
^H
Atba ra.
28 73
729-76
^ r
^H^^Wi^'
"^
^^^
1- ■ — J
S u a ki n.
29-88
^^^^^^"^
^
^M
Kas s a 1 a.
28/9
716 08
7^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Khartoum .
28 57
725-60
_ ^"T_
«
Wad Medani.
28-53
724-62
^M^
^
Du e i m .
28-62
72699
^
^
Rose i res.
28 36
720-38
!
"
El Obeid.
28 01
7/1-58
_^
Wau.
28 52
7234
T-yi_L
\
iVIongal la .
28-1-0
721-28
^■P
^^
1
?ainy Seiason
B3
fed an dai a up
1 \
to/^07, Wauubto/i
03
296
Appendix B.
Mean Month ly Temperature
STATION
°C
Jan.
Feb.
Mar
Apr
Ma>
June
July
Aug
Sep.
Oct
Nov.
Dec.
°F
Ann. Mean.
—38
100^
Mongalla.
If!
5
5
95_
Dueim.
_34-
/<. ^X
8
Khartoum.
7
_32
_J0
90_
85_
Merowe.
_28
_2e
_22
II II / / \ \ \^-^a WW
80_
— a
Aswan.
75_
; 1
5
Oakhid Oasis.
// ,'/ /3 / y
--\ y'
'Vv \ \ \ W
f_
3
—
yy / // // /
■■
?
4-
_20
^/« / / / / ,/ /
6/ / / /■/ /'
v\\ \ '•-.'?
TO-
/ 2
Assiut.
3
_I8
/ ' iy
SS-
Helwan.
_IS
14
BO-
2
>v:'
Alexandria.
'•\
SS—
_I0
^-.f/'
50—
/
■V3
Based on data up to IS07.
The daily observations of my trans-African journey last year hardly allow
of useful conclusions, but they are submitted for comparison with the former
two tables.
Rain Showers in 1909.
1. At Wukari the night before my leaving for Takum, January 28th, a
little rain fell accompanied by considerable wind. The next two days were
overclouded, but we had only a few drops of rain.
2. The day after leaving Dempar on the Benue, February 27th, not far
from Amar, a tornado came down the Benue \'alley with a heavy shower of
rain at 8 a.m.
3. The day after leaving Yola, March i8th, we had an exceptionally heavy
tornado, and a little rain at 10 p.m.
4. Monday and Wednesday, March 22nd and 24th, at Garua during each
evening there was a heavy shower.
5. Monday evening, April 5th, at Marua, a very heavy shower, beginning
with a tornado from the east.
297
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
bo
■5 c
f o*
>-i
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1! ri
T3
c
0)
1 ! 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 c 1
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c 1
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C
1
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a
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l^-3^-3^" =
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^'^
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^
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1 ^ </) ^- t/, 12^- w
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S E S E S E £ a
E S E E E d E
£ E £ £
£ £
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s
E E E
H
rtD.rti:XaJ&,c3CUrtDjrtCX,rtort
a, rt &, rt
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298
Appendix B.
c 1 I I I I i I 1 •= I 5.S I .5?
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o -ri
^.^vh = ^ c u >. £ >^ c 5;.S c >--? S-^ a-;: o 3 fe 3 3 ^i? 3
^^^^A^^B5p^ ^
P
£S£ Ecc2SSErtd,£S SSSSSdS S SSSSSSSS
rtCirt eLrtd,rtd,rtd,00^c^ rtdidddod "i dd,rtd.rtD-rtCl,
\0 "->vO -*\0 ■* O -*vO ■* ^0 ^"y '^'? M \0 "J^sO "^\£) '^?u-> ON 0"^i-'-^r^"^0"^
M ri ro m -^ '^f "1 Lnvo vor^r^O^O <-! >-< t^ t-i rn rn ^r "-^ ^ t^oo "^ "^ u->\o vo
: : : ::::::::::: : : : i : rf n p
C 3 Ti^^o „,„^„„^^
o .^iJOtJOEs^ oPc-S<5
^ - ' - -.i: :;rt rt .-= ::3 3 'S --^ G 0-°
299
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
8.30 p.m. rain
thunderstorm
6 p.m., heavy tornado
C
0
1 1
heavy rain
heavy shower
rain tornado
7 p.m. a httle rain
2 a.m., heavy rain
afternoon, tornado.
0
6 a.m., tornado
heav)- tornado
heavy rain
c
2i ^ 2 :^' '" c/i z
WWW
w w W W W .3 .== W .3 -3 w
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Aneroid. , Cent.
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r^ 0
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M M CO 01 n CI CI C) CO C^ CI
Cl CI CO CI M
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'^ 1 -* ONOO
00 ! 00 :^ rv.
Date. Time.
6 S £ S S S E
£ E
£ESEE£EE££E
£ £ E £ S
0 \0 r^ I-I "-> "- 0
00 ^
rtD-rtc3n!rtrtrtDHrtrt
0 ■* 0 CO 00 c^co t^\o \0 r^
t^ t^ Tj- t^OO
r^ t^oo 0 o^ 0 i-i
ci ri ri CI n CO CO
vO_vO_
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\0 vO ^0 vO vO
■0 "t^oo'~0?~0~'
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o
E
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J3
300
Appendix B.
03 -G
1 o
hea
ado
torn
1
1 3 C
1
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tn C . ]
^2
§2-
o >,
»— r^
^
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r :;
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1 -o 1
SS'grt
c c
cL'rt
p.m
rain
ain a
p.m
rt
p.m.
p.m
2uvy
p.m.
l-O
r^ u^o
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ri
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ri
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t^
t-^ l^
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t^ r^co CO 00 f^co CO co r^co co co co on
c a . c . • ^ _• c c ^. ^- ^- _• ^- ^ ^ ^ ■ ^ ^
os 03 E 03 £ S E G 03 rt c E -. -. R ^ ^ '^ 2 c G_ E E S S £ S £ E E
O oc^Ortrtcj rtoortri rto3o3 rto3rto3n;rt'ojo3rtnjojo3rtrtrt
COOnO'-'OI co-^i-o nO t^CO ON O "- M CO -^ u-i\0 t^OO On O
rt rt _Q O
^ ^ E g ^m S
■^ U) c O o e '^'^
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
in
M
S
<u
1 I
rain all day
heavy rain 2 p.m. ;
t3
c
bi
2-0
morning
2avy rain
rras, rain
bo
5
S
d
0
CO
CO
rain all nig
11 1
a little rain
rain during
3.30 p.m. h
no rain
heavy sto
1 1
C
0
S
•d
c
W 1
in
N.
N.
S.W.
S.W.
N.W.
still
.S.E.
still
c/^I^Z'
1 1
Max. Mm. Aneroid. ; Cent, i Clouds.
1 '
. . . .
ci
. ^-. CO
. .^l .- . 1
: : ^ 2 \.'^ :
3 7.
clear
cloudy
clear
cloudy
11
11
clear
cloudy
„ e
„ n
heavy m
cloudy
dense m
thin mis
u-ivT^ CO >J^ r^j
ri ri ri n n
n ro ri t^O -tco K-^ r^. ^ -rr ro ri -1-
ci ri D ci ri n n m m m f fi f fi
CO — ri p)
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n — P^ f^ i^ f^ r^
m ro r) M ri c) n
r^ fv. r^ t^ r^ t^ r^
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m3 O^CO OOO t^ LoO r^ u-iOO CO O ro
CO t^ ri 0
M u-i f>l CO
0000
r^ t^ r^ r^
r^ r^ i^ r^ r^ i^
t^r^t^t^t^r^t^f^
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r^ t^ t^ f^ t^
ri -:1- N <n Tt- CO -1- i-n O O M — C^ M
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cococococooooooo t^ r^co t^ r>.oo
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00 00 00 r^
Date. Time.
e S S S E £ s
ci rt ri ri rt a; rt
vO vO vO vO t^^O \0
6 a.m.
6 a.m.
9 a.m.
9 a.m.
6 a.m.
£ E E S S S S £
M r^ r^ ^ o^o \0 0
E. E £ £
03 rt rt rt
vO vO vO 0
" N r)
t-^ f^ t^ r^ r-^
CO ^ i-oo r^
C» 0) M n D
t^ t^ r^ r^oo 00 00 oo CO CO oo^oo^oo^oo
OOOvO'— '-'t^^O^ i-OvO r^OO O^ 0^
M CS CO ro
00 00 00 CO
■■J
Ganda
Ba River ...
In Bush ...
Ndoka '...
11
PC rlj ^ S ;;
Bol'o
In Bush
= - - =^
Appendix B.
.^
13
bo
o
S
C
G
a.
a
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G
O
O
a
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c
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r: be
'5
.bp
'5
::
£
4)
hn
p
!M £3
tie
buo "
rt
to
ci
c
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^ ^
'rt
•5ii
.5
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—
s
2
a
c
Is
E
"as
c 5
c
c.
&0
c
nado
little
ight
=3 G
G ^ •
; E P
O
a
o
rt
rt
;_
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nj c
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o
rt
rt
c
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u
u
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M 01 ri
: y : : : : : : : : -73 : ts : :
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en
CI '^00 00 -+ roco u-i ri
u-i 0 i^vO ro r^ LT-i " 0
0
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vO 00 00 01 '^ ro «!t-
vO « „ '^t '^ ■* C^
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0 0 0 0 0 0 "
vO i^ rv tv. t^ r^ t^
S E S SEES S S E S S S E S S S S E 6 S S E S S S S £ S
sO vO vO t^ t^OO 00 vO vO vO vO vO OO vO^O vO vOOvO^O \0\0\00>0^t^
coooQOcooooooo 00 0000000000000000 ^ _0 0000 O O 0_0 O 0_0
^^
a,
303
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
■ri
o
heavy tornado
rain night
no rain
a little during day
no rain
rain all night
rain
no rain
rain day and night
no rain
heavy rain
a little rain
no rain
rain night
no rain
little rain in afternoon
a little rain
heavy rain all night
)) 11 ))
no rain
a little rain
rain
O
U
clear
cloudy
slight clouds ...
cloudy ...
11
11
clear
clouds ...
clear
cloudy ...
clear
clouds ...
cloudy ...
clear
1
u-i .Tf VJ-. Tf '^ li-i <■<-) '■o li-i n vO O r-^ CO r^ M ri ■-" ro ro ro -t- -t-O vC -+
ri ri n n n n n n n n n n ri ri n ri ri ri n ri ri n n n ri ri
'5
0)
c
<
-t-O 00 O •* f 1 n oo rooo 00 00 n oo o 'i- ri -t- n -t- ri co oo ri
— O n ^J-^ r^ D o .-^oo r^ J^ h^ f^ ."* r i^ P^ ?^ .^' P"'^ h^ P" .'"' .'^
Time. Max. Min.
00 00 00 00 00 ooo ooooooooMoooooooocoooooco oooo a^OO^C-
S £ £ S S e S S S S S S S S S S S £ S S £ £ £ E £ £
o o o o o o_o o o^^_o^__o^^_o^ ooo oo oooo
2^ „ „ „ ►, — ►- M M CI ri n n N M N n CO - ri CO •* "-> O t^co O
Keffi Gcnji ...
11
(iuku
Mirsal C.abel
Minangwc ...
Faragalla ...
Caba
11 •••
In Bush
Raja
11
In Bush
JebelZaka...
So ...
Dem Zubeir
Police
Station
Sukoth
Police
Station
In Bush
Pongo
Bombolo ...
Ba Sheka ..
304
APPENDIX C.
ZooLOfiiCAi, Specimens and Collections Brought Home by the
Expedition.
The zoological specimens brought home include the following : —
A collection of some 250 Lepidoptcra, named by Mr. Heron and Sir
George Hampson, of the British Museum (Natural History).
List of Butterflies collected near the sources of the Bahr-el-Arab, on
the Ironstone Plateau (2,000 ft.), in Dar Runga and Dar Kouti, in the
Shari-Chad Protectorate.
YMPHALIDAE
Nyinp]ialidac
I $
I $
I ?
A $ $
Asterope
Asterope
Kallima
Hamanumida
pechucli
boisduvali
jacksoni
doedalus
Dewitz.
Wallengren.
E. M. Sharpe.
Fabr.
2 ? ?
Hamanumida
dffidalus
Wet season phase.
4 <? <?
Hypodimmas
misippus
Linn.
13 ? 9
Hypodimmas
„ misi
ippus
form $
3 ? ?
Hypodimmas
„ inaria form ?
I $
Euphocdra
cyparissa, C:
form aurata
ramer
Carpenter.
I $
Neptis
agatlia
Cramer.
6 C?C?
Precis
orithyia
Guenee.
madagascanensis
2 $ $
Precis
hierta cebrene
Trimen.
2 $ $
Precis
chorimene
Guerin.
6 ? V
I $
I $
Precis
Precis
pelarga
antelope
Fab.
Feiseh.
Satyridae
2 s s
Mycalesis
safitza
Hewitson.
2 s s
Mycalesis
Mycalesis
angulosa
milyas
Butler.
Hew.
I ?
Melanitis
leda
Linn, "wet"' phase.
I c?
Ypthima
itonia
Hew.
Dauaidac
14 c? (?
Danais
chrysippus falcippus
Cramer. $ $
3 ??
(Limnas)
I ?
Danais
(Tirumala)
petiverana
Doubr. Hew.
305
Frum llausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Acrocidae
5 $ $
Acroea
terpsichore
Linn, i $
I c?
Acroua
peneleas
Wed.
Papilionidae
9 <? c?
Papilio
demodocus
Esper.
•2 c? (?
Papilio
mireus
Linn.
3 ^ c7, I $
Papilio
pylades
Feb.
I i
Papilio
similis
Linn.
Picjidac
« ^ <? , 5 ¥ ?
Teracolus
antigone
Boizd. wet and
intermediate.
7 (? ^ , 3 ? ?
Teracolus
eupompe
Klug " wet " phase.
II (?<?, 4 ? ?
Teracolus
isaura, Lucas
Butler)
(nelle,
—
I c?
Teracolus
ocale
Borid.
7 <?<?
Catopsilia
florella-pyrene
form.
Swain son.
7 ? ?
Catopsilia
florella-pyrene
form.
Swainson.
2 c? c?,2 ? ?
Catopsilia
florella
Fab.
I <?
Eronia
leda
Trimen. (f. loc.) ?
2 JcJ
Mylothris
chloris
Fab.
i6 c? <? , 5 ? ?
Relenois
subeida
Felder.
4 (? (?, 2 ? ?
Belenois
creona
Cramer.
2 c? c?, 2 ? ?
Belenois
gidica
Godart.
I c?, I ?
Pinacopteryx
doxo
Godart.
8 c?c?, 7 ? ?
Terias
brigitta form
Hopfer
zoii
Cramer " wet ''
phase.
I S
Terias
desjardinsi f.
laris
regu-
Butter.
3 c?^, 3 ? ?
Terias
senegalensis
Boisd. " wet "
Lycoenidae
phase.
, !<?
Axioceses
harpax
Fab.
Ic?
Tarucas
plinius
Fab.
I?
Lyccenesthes
amarah
Le febre.
Hcsperiidac
Ic?
Cyclopides
formosus
Aurivillius.
form. loc. tsadicus
Moths from the Shari-Chad Protectorate.
Artiadae
Diacrisia maculosa Cram.
A<!;aristidac
Aegocera rectilinea Boisd.
Nflcitiidae
Cyligramma latona Cram.
•;o6
Appendix C.
Sphi7igidae
Platysphinx stigmatica Mai.
Notodontidae
Zana sp.
Satiiriadae
Nudaiirelia Rendalli Rotho.
,, /nacropt/ia/?iia Kirby.
Imbrasia obsciira Butl.
Civifia St mill's. Dist.
Btineae phacdx Jordan.
Carnegia pancratia Weym.
The buffalo of the Shari \'alley appear to differ somewhat from the Congo
variety or the East African. A pair of horns I brought home are curiously
flat. They measure from tip to tip 26| inches ; greatest spread outside,
32 inches ; length of single horn on inside curve, 27 inches. The buffalo in
youth is red, but becomes perfectly black as he gets older.
Among the giraffes, found in the Shari \"alley there are some which show a
rudimentary branch on each of the two back horns (vide specimen in the
British Museum, horns 7 inches long). The giraffes, of course, belong to the
three-horned variety.
There are three distinct kinds of crocodiles in the Shari River — the broad-
nosed kaiman, the short-headed crocodile, and a curiously ringed species
looking something like the following —
^«i^
A SAURIEN OF THE SHARI— A ZEBRA CROCODILE.
A number ot hippo tusks, elephant tusks, and rhino horns also brought
home show nothing of special interest except that some of the hippo tusks
are remarkably large. One of the elephants shot by the writer was note-
worthy in that it possessed a double heart.
307 X 2
APPENDIX D.
Trans-African Outfit.
Load I.
6 hoes (lod.) ...
6 matchets (8d.)
4 hatchets (lod.)
2 claw hammers (is. 5
1 pincers
I pliers
I hand saw ...
I screwdriver...
I 9-ft. spring measure
7 lbs. of nails ...
I case...
Weighing 51 lbs.
id.)
Load 2.
6 five-pound tins separated milk (2s. 4d.)
2 five-pound tins full milk (4s. 6d.)
Load 3.
6 five-pound tins separated milk (2s. 4d.)
2 five-pound tins full milk (4s. 6d.)
£
s.
d.
0
5
0
0
4
0
0
3
4
0
-->
II
0
0
9
0
I
7
0
0
3
0
0
8
0
4
0
I
0
0
I
6
I 7 3
£
s.
d.
0
14
0
0
9
0
I
3
0
£
s.
d.
0
14
0
0
9
0
I
0
0
Load 4.
6 five-pound tins separated milk (2s. 4d.).
2 five-pound tins full milk (4s. 6d.)
£ s. d.
o 14 o
090
308
Appendix D.
Load 5.
3 pieces, 12 yds. 36-in. crape (6s.) ...
3 pieces, 12 yds. 355-in. calabash pts. (5s.)
10 pairs animal sep (is. I id.)
10 pieces heavy cords (2s. 4d.)
I bale (3s. 3d.)
Load 6.
20 pieces, 12 yds., blue baft (4s. 6d.)
I bale (3s. 3d.)
I^oad 7.
20 pieces, 12 yds., blue baft (4s. 6d.)
I bale (3s. 3d.)
Load 8.
20 pieces, 12 yds., 24-in. blue baft (4s. 6d.)
I bale (3s. 3d.)
Load 9.
12 scarfs, 34 in. by 70 in., fancy scarfs (lod.)
10 pieces, 12 yds., 36-in. black and white checks (5s. 72d.
I bale (3s. 3d.)
Load 10.
12 scarfs, 34 in. by 70 in., fancy scarfs (lod.
10 pieces, 12 yds., 36-in. checks (5s. 75d.)
I bale (3s. 3d.)
I
s. .1.
0
18 0
0
15 0
0
19 2
I
3 4
0
3 3
3
18 9
/
s. d.
4
10 0
0
3 3
4
13 3
£
s. d
4
10 0
4 13
£ s.
d.
4 10
0
0 3
3
4 13
3
I s.
d.
0 10
Q
2 16
3
0 3
^
J
3 9
6
i s.
d.
0 10
0
2 16
1
9 6
309
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan.
Load 1 1 .
£ s. d.
lo doz. '})'}i in. by 29 in. black and white small check mds.
(2s. lod.) 184
3 pieces, 12 yds., 36-in. Salempores ('4s. 7id.) ... ... o 13 10
I bale (3s. 3d.) 033
Load 12.
Two "405 Winchesters, with recoil pads
I Winchester 12-gauge shot gun ...
Gun cases and packing
L^oad 13.
250 rounds "405 soft-nose cartridges
50 rounds "405 hard-point cartridges
I box (3s. 6d.)
Load I
250 rounds .405 soft-nose cartridges
50 rounds '405 hard-point cartridges
I box (3s. 6d.)...
Load 16.
250 rounds '405 soft-nose cartridges
50 rounds hard-nose cartridges
I box (3s. 6d.) ...
0
5
5
I
s.
d.
12
4
0
4
3
0
2
10
0
18
17
0
I s. d.
4 ^ 10
500 i2-gauge shells, BB shots ... ... ... ... )
500 12-gauge shells, No. 3 ... ... ... ... ... \
I box (3s. 6d.)... ... ... ... ... 036
Load 14.
4
7
4
i
s.
d.
2
1 1
0
0
10
2i
0
3
6
^
J
4
85
I
s.
d.
n
II
0
0
10
2A
0
3
6
3
4
8J
I
s.
d.
2
II
0
0
10
2i
0
3
6
3
4
8^
Appendix D.
Load 17.
250 rounds "405 soft-nose cartridges
50 rounds '405 hard-nose cartridges
I box (3s. 6d.)
i s. d.
211 o
o 10 25
036
3 4 8i
Load 18.
I aluminium canteen
I oilcloth waterbottle
I Preston mess kit
I mincing machine
1 chop bag
2 tin openers ...
I fibre case ...
I flat iron
£
s.
d.
3
15
0
0
6
0
I
4
0
0
5
0
0
I
6
0
0
10
0
16
0
0
n
0
6 10 4
Load ig.
Tentfly, poles, pegs, mallet...
I s. d.
500
Tent, 10 ft. by 8 ft.
Load 20.
i s. d.
500
Load 21.
I set of camp furniture : —
bed with mosquito rods
mosquito net
mattress
2 pillows
chair
table
bath and washstand
footstool
In rotproof waterproof canvas
I s. d.
15
3"
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the vSudan.
Load
1 Whitman saddle ...
I j)air U.S. saddle bags
I bridle and bit
I pair of spurs
I tin of castor oil
I can of grease
I poncho
Rope and twine
Lodd 2"}).
1 bale of grey cloth, 170 yds. (2|d.)
Packing
Load 24.
I bale of grey cloth, 141 yds. (Sjd.)
Packing
Load 25.
I bale of grey cloth, 102 yds. (4]d.)
Packing
Load 26.
2 syphons
20 dozen bulbs
6 coils of rope...
I ground sheet
20 dozen boxes of candles
Box
Load I'j.
£
s.
d.
7
6
0
0
14
0
I
0
0
0
10
0
0
0
0
0
I
0
0
12
0
0
15
0
II
0
0
£
s.
d.
I
II
\oh
0
3
0
I
14
105
£
I
s.
18
d.
0
0
3
0
2
I
2
£
s.
16
d.
I
0
3
0
I
19
I
£
s.
d.
0
4
0
I
5
0
0
12
9
0
8
0
2
9
9
£
s.
d.
I
10
0
0
2
6
I
12
6
312
Appendix D.
Load 28.
I chop box
Contents
Load 29.
Medicine (one box) ...
Instruments and medicines...
Thermometer...
Odol,&c
Load 30.
I boat, canvas, collapsible
Packing
I
s.
d.
I
0
0
I
17
0
2
17
0
I
s.
d.
0
4
6
3
18
6
I
1
0
0
5
6
5 10 6
I s. d.
600
006
Load 31.
Tin Trunk A.
Trunk ...
3 pairs of high-laced boots ..
I pair of low ditto ...
I pair of mocassins ...
I pair of rubber-soled shoes
I pair of leggings ...
I duck back suit
I mackintosh...
Load 32.
Tin Trunk B.
2 pairs of riding breeches
I pair khaki trousers
1 khaki jacket
1 white dress suit
2 pairs trousers
1 white jacket
2 pairs flannel trousers
I silk suit
I Norfolk suit
£
s.
d.
I
15
0
5
0
0
I
5
0
0
1 1
0
0
7
6
0
4
0
0
12
0
I
5
0
12 19 6
/ s. d.
Altogether about
15
From Hausciland to E^^ypt. through the Sudan.
Load 33.
Yellow Tin Box.
£
s.
d.
I camera and 240 films
... 18
0
0
Notepaper and envelopes ...
0
10
0
Blotting paper
0
3
0
6 copy books
0
6
0
6 pencils
0
0
6
2 bottles of gum
0
2
0
I hurricane lamp
0
6
0
I candlestick ...
I
3
0
4 story books
0
4
0
6 story books
0
3
0
I box of fishing tackle
3
0
0
I signalling pistol and cartridges
.. 4
10
0
I plum pudding
';)
I box
0
7
6
28
15
0
Load 34.
Tin trunk
1 pair gloves
3 ties
6 serviettes
6 vests
6 pairs pants
6 towels
2 pillow covers
2 sheets
4 hunting shirts
3 soft white shirts
4 white dress shirts
8 pairs stockings
6 pairs socks
25 dozen handkerchiefs
8 soft collars
\'alue about
Box
£ s. d.
10
0
0
I
15
0
II
15
0
314
I box of soap
20 lbs. of tea
20 lbs. of coffee
I box
Appendix D.
Load 35.
Load 36.
I box of biscuits
I box of dried fruit ..
Load 37.
Load ^8.
Load 41.
I s.
d.
2 0
0
L s.
d.
2 10
0
2 ;
0
0 3
6
4 18
6
I s.
d.
2 0
0
I s.
d.
3 0
0
Load 39.
^ s. d.
I box condiments (pickles, vinegar, salad oil, tScc.) ... 3 o o
Load 40.
^ s. d.
I box of breakfast food ... ... ... ... ... 2100
L s. d.
I hunting bag, containing books, clothing, maps, hunting
belt, &c. ... ... ... 20 o o
Instruments : —
I aneroid barometer ^\
1 maximum and minimum thermometer |
2 thermometers
3 compasses )■ ... 27 10 o
I pedometer 1
1 chronometer |
2 watches J
47 10 o
From Hausaland to Egypt, through the Sudan,
Load 42.
I s. d.
I deck chair ...
I guitar in case
I handbag with papers and desk
I hat
To these were added later on : —
2 bags of salt,
2 bags of rice,
1 load of Ideal milk,
2 loads of beads (assorted),
1 load, medicine chest,
6 loads of cloth,
2 native saddles,
5 loads of tinned food,
and after the Shari
10 loads of guinea-corn.
0
•5
0
1
10
0
5
0
0
0
15
0
8
0
0
31 loads
31 loads
42 loads
Together ^2) loads, worth roughly ^500.
Carriers and servants for nine months cost on an average ^10 each.
Ijesides this there were steamer and railway expenses on the outward and
home journeys. Customs dues, licences, presents to the chiefs, the purchase of
eight horses and twenty-five pack-oxen, food supplies at Wau, and hotel
expenses at Khartum, etc.
!i6
INDEX.
Ababja, 240.
Abesher, 4, 116, 118.
Abo, 7.
Abuja, 248.
Abu-Sinibel, 237.
Abyssinia, 216, 267.
Adamawa, 3, 39, 60, 63, 64, 66, 69,
70, 78, 85, 86, 87, 88, 244, 245, 252,
258, 259, 260, 262, 268.
Adja Clan, 211.
Aeilius-Ciallus, 240.
Africanus, 238.
Agid Mamid, 117.
Ahmed Dey, 242.
Albinoes, 245.
Alexander, Boyd, 3, 4.
Claud, 3.
Dr., 8, 13.
Alfred Rocks, 187.
Algiers, 109.
Amenhotep, 236.
Amnion, 235.
Ampir, 32.
An, 236.
Andja, 93.
Angas, 250.
Angareb, 215.
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 119, 146,
147, 182, 185.
Ankwe, 34.
Antelope, 134, 138, 152.
roan, 199.
Anthill, 47, 124.
Archambault, 57, 59, 100, loi,
106, 107, 108, 112, 116, 120,
138, 144, 147, I5i> 152, 158,
168, 169, 205, 262, 263, 264.
Argo, 242.
102,
133,
165,
Arrows, poisoned, -15, 16.
Assuan, 24, 237, 238, 240.
Attia, 115, 116.
Audu, 137.
Audu-abuja, 57.
Aulad-Hamad, 244.
Auka-debbe, 90, 108, 156.
Au, Rousseau Srgt., 116.
Ba River, 163.
Baboon, 15, 45.
Bagirmi, 2, 57, 71, 89, 93, 94, 96, 102,
III, 112, 144, 148, 156, 170, 175,
242, 244, 245, 248.
Bahr-ada, 209.
Bahr-el-Arab, 209, 210, 225, 259,
263.
Bahr-Auk, 210.
Bahr-el-Cihazal, 2, 120, 182,209, 211,
214, 218, 222,225, 227, 231, 232,
258, 265, 269.
Bahr-el-Jebel, 225.
Bahr-esSalammat, 100, 259.
Baker, Sir Samuel, 2.
Rev., 45, 46, 50.
Balassa, 79.
Balctun, 69.
Balliniere, 144.
Balingeri, 93.
Bamboo, 167.
Banda, 21 1, 244.
Bangobale, 185.
Bantu, 94, 244, 245, 251, 252.
Barbary, 175.
Barejuko, 9, 10.
Barkal, 235, 239.
Baro, 9, 10.
Earth, i, 60.
Basalt, 45, 258.
317
Inde)
l>assa, 247.
Bassama, 247.
Bauchi, ^s^ 248, 259, 260, 262, 267.
Beda, 247.
Bedauje, 98, 244.
Beit-el-Wali, 237.
Benin, Bay of, 6.
Beni-ali, 244.
Bengazi, 4, 175.
Beni-hassan, 244.
Benue, 9, 10, 17, 37, 39, 43, 45, 5°
51, 53' 54, 59, ('O,
loi, 102, 107, 259, 260, 268.
Berber, 264.
Beresford, 9.
Beri Beri, 248.
Beurman, i, 2.
Bigila, 57.
Binder- Bongo, 70.
Bipia,' III.
Bishareen, 98, 244.
Blard, Lt., 117.
Blemmyes, 239, 240.
Boar, 138, 143.
Bogo, 79.
Eogobil, 250.
Bong, 29.
Bongo, 70.
Bongu, 183.
Bongobola, 150, 169, 263.
Bor, 107, 129, 222, 231, 232.
Borku, 2, 3, 4, 112, 175, 267.
Tibesti, 176.
IJuffalo, 45, 46, 47, 48, 134, 135, 137,
164, 182, 198.
Bukuru, 6, 13, 18, 21, 24, 25, 28.
Burmawa, 250, 267.
Burt, 107.
Burutu, 7.
Busso, 94, 96, 97, 102, 138, 143, 264.
Cairo, 232.
Calabash, 18.
Camp, Christmas, 28.
Candace, 239.
69, 90, 91, 97, Central Africa, ironstone plateau, 187.
Bornu, 2, 4, 102, 160,
244, 245, 248.
Bornuese, 214.
Boro River, 209, 210.
Bosnians, 241.
Botha, 13.
Bourraud, Lieut., 118.
Bretonet, 109, no.
British East Africa, 5.
Brook, Wilmot, 107.
Brot, 33.
Bruce, 238.
Brugsch Bay, 235.
Budge, Wallis, 236.
165, 175, 242,
Chad, 2, 3, 66, 96, 109, no, 160, 244,
258, 260, 262.
Chammis, 2n.
Chanoine, 1 10.
Charga, 187, 239.
Chaur, 167.
JNIirapira, 212.
Clapperton, i.
Cobus-cob, 31, 45, 52, 80, 100, 138,
143, 150.
Colobus monkey, 50, 164.
Congo, 102, 109, 182, 258, 260.
Coptik, 236.
Corn-cobs, 200.
Corona, 6, 7. 9.
Corse, 99, 130.
Cotton, 35, 260.
Crampel, 102, 107.
Crocodile, 41, 94, 99j i3^, -I7-
Cross River, 45.
Cush, 235, 236, 237.
Dachla, 176, 187.
Dangana, 7, 55, 57, 60, 73, 77, 122,
125, 131, 132, 168, 216, 217.
Dalbirka, 217.
Dakar-kari, 250.
Darb-el-Arbain, 4.
Darfur, 2, 4, n8, 171, 175, 176, 242,
260, 262.
Dar-Nuba, 239.
Daura, 248.
Delgauna, 209.
Dempar, 25, 37, 41, 45, 49, 5°' 5i, 53,
107.
Dem-Ziber, 218.
318
Index,
Denham, i.
DeiT, 242.
Dikoa, 70, no, 112, 262.
Dinka, 129, 164, 231, 232.
Diocletian, 239.
Divorce, 229.
Djebel-Abu-Koubeis, 175.
Djedda, 264.
Djen, 58.
Dodekaschoenus, 239.
Dogeri, 2,7-
Dogotchi, 1 16.
Dolaib Hill, 231.
Donga, 45, 46, 50.
Dongola, 240, 241, 242.
Dorina, 213.
Duiker, 41, 94, 152.
Dumraou, 99.
Duvas, 169, 263.
East Africa, British, 30.
Ebony, 7.
Egypt, 225, 235, 236, 237, 238,
240.
El-obeid, 263.
El-ourde, 242.
Elephant, 152, 161, 164, 181,
183, 198.
grass, 46, 48.
Elephantine Island, 238.
Elliott, Captain, 8, 9.
Emlyn, Dr., 18, 24, 25, 27, 30.
Eratosthenes, 238.
Esterlin, loi.
Ethiopia, 235, 236, 237, 238,
267.
Eurafrican, 88.
Eurasian, 88.
Eusebius, 238.
Fadama, 141, 142, 147, 149, 162,
183.
Fadl Allah, 112.
Falaba, 6.
Faragalla, 208, 215.
Fashoda, 222, 231, 232.
Faure, in.
FazogI, 242.
Fez, 175, 264.
Fezzan, 242.
Flying Fox, 144, 149, 173, 211.
Fica, 248.
Forcados, 6, 7.
Foureau, 109, no.
Fox, Rev., 29.
French foreign legion, n8.
Residency, 170.
Trading Company, 170.
Western Sudan, 177.
Fugenschuch, Captain, n8, ng.
Fula, 162.
Fulani, 34, 37, 64, 66, 69, 74, 78, 79,
94, 97, 98, 102, 107, ni, 152, 156,
179, 180, 244,245, 268.
Fulatanchi, 63, 93, 102.
FuUahs, 214.
Funghi, 241.
Gaber, 208.
Callus, Cornelius, 238.
Gamjem, 83.
239, Ganda, 162, 169, 263.
Garua, 59, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 70,
71, 72, 144, 260, 268.
Gaurang, 91.
182, Gazum, 2,2>, 34-
Geese, spur- winged, 143.
Geffo, 207.
Gentil, i, 109, j 10.
Gerf-hussein, 237.
Gessi Pasha, 209, 227.
Ghey, Mr., 21.
Gilbidi, 79.
240, Gingile, 79.
Giraft'e, 138, 159, 164.
Girouard, Sir Percy, 8.
Giwa, 54.
Godard, Lieut., n6.
182, Gold, 259.
Golombe, 69.
Gondokoro, 129.
Gordon, i, 243.
College, 174-
Gosling, Capt., 3, 4-
Governor of French Shari-Chad Pro-
tectorate, n9.
Gowei, 80.
319
I ndex
Granary, 42.
Granite, 14, 258.
Grauwacke, 45, 258.
Guadarfui, 238.
Guari, 246.
Guinea corn, 32, 103, 104, 160, 161,
261.
fowl, 159.
Guinter, Rev., 40, 41.
Guku, 206.
Gula, 169, 263.
Gvvynne, Bishop, 232.
Hadendowa, 98, 244.
Hadj, 102.
Hamitic, 94, 244, 251.
Hand-knife, 42.
Hanyan Yaki, 156.
Hartbeest, S3, 84, 138, 149, 150, 159.
Hassan, 211.
Hausa, 4, 29, 34, 35, 44, 66, 69, 93,
102, 107, 148, 163, 168, 180, 181,
205, 217, 244, 245.
Heerens, 238.
Herodotus, 235.
Hippo, 57, 94, 134, 147, 163, 164, 213,
217.
Honey, 207.
bird, 208.
Hoover, 41.
Hosking, 50, 59.
Hoskins, 237.
Hyena, 159.
Ibi, 14, 39, 41, 44. 45, 47, 50, 51, 101.
Ibrim, 238.
Illorin, 249.
Indigenous,. 18.
Isa, 54, 206.
Ishmael Pasha, 242.
Jarbub, 175.
Jardi, 30.
Jebel-Zakka, 217.
Jerusalem, 115, 116, 117.
Jellaba, 209.
Jeneina, 239.
Joalland, 1 10.
Joko, 105, 120.
Ju-ju, 16, 35.
Jukun, 249.
Julian, Lt.-Col., 1 16.
Kabbe-Luzum, 263.
Kaduna, 9.
Kakanda, 247.
Kalabsche, 240.
Kalaka, 209.
Kale-Jbrim, 239.
Kaligula, 240.
Kamerun, 3, 39, 42, 44.
Kanem, 117, 160, 258, 262.
Kano, 8, 10, 147, 245, 246, 262.
Kapelle, 6, 7.
Karifi, 197.
Karshi, 14.
Kashif, 241, 242.
Katagum Osman, 169, 247.
Katsena, 250.
Katwaka, 174, 198, 199.
Keane, 236.
Kefifi, 246.
Genii, 169, 198, 203, 204, 205,
215, 217, 222, 227, 263, 264.
Keirouan, 264.
Khalifa, 240.
Khartum, i, 2, 5, 174, 222, 225, 231,
232, 238, 260, 262.
Khedive, 269.
Khont, 235.
Kirdi, 103, 104, 105, 120, 146, 148,
244-
Kitchener, i, 243.
Kobana, 169, 263.
Kola, 260.
Komsenga, 149, 169, 263.
Konondobo, 149, 169, 263.
Kontagora, 246.
Kopts, 267.
Koran, 175, 262, 269.
Korbol, 102.
Kordofan, 2, 242, 260, 262.
Kotto, 57, 185, 195, 198, 204, 259.
Kreish, 210, 244.
Kribi, 97, 98.
Kuban, 237.
Kufra, 4, 115, 267.
Kuka, 2, 262.
I ndex
Kumneh, 236.
Kuno, 99.
Kurmi, 165, 166, 182.
Kusseri, 66, 70, no, 262.
Lado, 232.
Laff, 72.
Lagos, 10.
Lam, 70, 71, 72, 100, 268.
Lamidoes, 64.
Lamy, 99, loi, 107, no, n5.
Langtang, 25, 33, 35, 36.
Leandri, Lieut., n7.
Le Grand, Lieut., n6.
Le Noan, Srgt., 117.
Lepsius, Prof., 239.
Lepidoptera, 165.
Liana Creepers, 195.
Liberty, 7.
Lideja, 263.
Link, Prof., 100, 259.
Lion, 51, 52, 138, 151, 152, 162, 164,
198, 199.
Livingstone, i.
Logone, 63, 66, 70, 71, 80.
Loefler, i.
Loko, 17.
Lokoja, 7, 8, 10, loi, 258.
Lombel, 69.
Luxor, 240.
Lybian desert, 4, 176, 239, 267.
^aerobians, 238.
Mahdi, 243.
Mahmur, 203, 205.
Mahogany, 7.
Maifoni, 3, 4.
Maistre, i.
]\L^jabera, 263.
^lako, 30.
Malagere, 202.
Malaka, 242.
Malam-gidar, 69, 70.
Mamelukes, 241, 242.
Mandara, 71.
'Sits., 267.
Mandjafa, 78, 89, 90, 91, 92.
Maniling, 70, 85, 88.
Alarcian, 240.
Marfou-Bey, 242.
Maria Theresia, 83, 96, 252.
Mariali, 83.
Martin, 13.
Marua, 65, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78,
79, 89, 144-
Matafal, 70.
Matteucci, 4.
Maosari, 4.
Maximian, 240.
M'bula, 58.
Mecca, 93, 94, 102, 158, 159, 164,
169, 177, 179, 217, 262, 264, 265,
267.
Medina, 174.
Medjem, 97.
Megabari, 240.
Melek, 241.
Memphis, 237.
Mera Rock, 187, 259.
Meroe, 238.
Meshra-er-rek, 222.
Meynier, 1 10.
Milfi, 57, 163-
Miltu, 98, 99, 130.
Min-andal, 169, 174,263.
Minangwe, 211.
Min-Gella, 169, 263.
Miri, 34.
Mirte, 97.
Mirsal Gabel, 207.
Missionary Society Church, 7, 29,
231.
Mizon, 60.
Mobangi, 107, 182.
Mohamed Adlan, 242.
Ah, 241, 242.
Mohammed-Ben-AH-Es-Sinussi, 175.
Moll, Colonel, n9.
Mondo, 169.
Mongalla, 232.
Mongur, 29.
Monok, 32.
Mouka, 185.
Monkey bread, 260, 26 1.
Monteille, Colonel, 171.
Montoil, 34.
Index.
Morno, 84.
Morocco, 6, 264.
Moshi, 250.
Mostaganem, 175.
Mountains of the Moon, i.
Munchi, 42, 43, 244, 251, 252.
Mungo, 166, 167.
Park, I.
Murchison Range, 31, 34, 258, 267.
Mureji, 9.
Muri, 41, 60.
Musa, 57.
Musgun, 71, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 88,
89,244, 252, 268.
Mut, 72.
Nachtigal, 2, 3, 4.
Nahasi, 236.
Naka, 210.
Napata, 235, 239.
Naraguta, 17.
Nassarawa, 246.
Ndele, 93, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170,
172, 176, 179, 204, 205, 263.
Ngaumdere, in, 112.
Ngell, 21,25.
Ngilming, 80, 83.
Ngodge, 155, 158, 169, 263.
Ngolo, 212.
Ngore, 148, 149, 167, 263.
Niama, 208.
Niangara, 3, 4.
Niger, 3, 6, 8, 10, 39.
Company, 7, 10, 42, 45, 59, 60,
70.
Nigeria, North, 3, 5, 6, 7, 36, 2,7, 4i,
42, 43, 60, 72, 86, 87, 92, no, 129,
147, 258, 259, 262, 270.
Nigeria, South, 42, 43.
Nile, I, 2, 3, 4, 18, 53>93,94, 102, 129,
147, 160, 170, 236, 239, 259, 260.
Nile (White), 129.
Nilim, 99, 100, 109, 165.
Nobatat, Nobades, Nubae, 239, 240.
Nubia, 4, 235, 236, 237, 240, 241.
Nubian, 235, 237, 240, 242, 244.
Nuer, 232.
Nuhut, 263.
Nupe, 247.
Nyam-Nyam, 219, 220, 244.
Nyeri, 4.
Oasis of Kufra, 175.
Omar, 241.
Ombo River, 217.
Omdurman, i, 231, 263, 264, 265.
Onitsha, 8.
Onko, 93.
Osman, 92, 93, 122, 125, 132, 133,
167, 168, 216.
Pack oxen, 57, 108, 146.
Pachyderm, 132.
Panchim, 31.
Panyam, 25, 29.
Papyrus, 260.
Para Rubber, 260.
Patta River, 182.
Patte Hill, 10.
Pausanias, 238.
Pepi I., 236.
Perron, 239.
Peter, 51, 52, 55, 57, 60, 134, 137.
Petronius, 239, 240.
Pharoah, 235, 236, 237.
Philae, 236, 338, 240.
Pianchi, 237.
Pilak, 236.
Pioneer Camp, 34.
Pis, 80, 183.
Pitoa, 69.
Pliny, 239.
Pony Pagan, 26.
Portuguese, 3.
East Africa, 5.
Premnis, 239.
Procopius, 230.
Prokesch, Ritter, von Osten, 239.
Psammetich, 238.
Pselchis, 239.
Ptolemys, 236, 237.
Quira River, 182.
Rabba, 102, 109, no, n2, n5, 170,
262, 278.
Rafam, 26, 27.
Rafin Soja, 41.
Rago, 249.
Index.
Raja, io8, 205, 209, 212, 213, 214,
215, 218, 222, 225.
Ramadan, 205, 210.
Rameses I., II., 237.
Raymond, Lieut., 170, 172, 173, 176,
i8c, 184, ig[.
Rock, 187.
Razzias, 171.
Red wood, 7.
Reed-buck, 41, 94, 141, 143, 152,
163.
Rei-buba, 70, 244, 256.
Resegat, 209.
Rhino, 138.
Rholfs, I.
Rock Station, 25, 36.
Rosellini, 238.
Roosevelt, 232.
Rumasha, 9, 10.
Rumbeck, 226, 228, 229.
Rupier, Lieut., 1 18.
Sabbakon, 238.
Sahara, 2, 3, 5, 109, 258, 260.
Said Sultan, 211.
Saladin, 241.
Sandstone, 258, 259.
Sango, 102.
Sannayar, 239.
Sara-Kabba, 102, 104, 138, 155, 156,
158.
Sati, Senti, 236.
Sauwija, 175.
Savage, Lander, 4.
Scarborough, 7.
Schweinfurth, 2.
Selim, 241.
Sello, 146, 147, 169, 263.
Senaar, 241, 242.
Sengalese, 95, 109, 115, 116, 149.
Semitic, 247, 251.
Sevechus, 238.
Severus, 240.
Shaduf, 9.
Shagia, 241.
Shakka, 209.
Shambe, 225, 227, 228, 230, 231,
232.
Shari, 2, 3, 53, 71, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91,
93, 94, 97, 98, 100, 1 01, 106, 107,
109, 115, 120, 121, 122, 130, 144,
156, 158, 160, 165.
Chad, 1 18, 1 19, 168, 176, 215.
Valley, 106, 185.
Shea Butter, 106, 260.
Shendy, 242.
Shilluk, 164, 232.
Shwish, 241.
Sibera, 241, 242.
Sidi-el-Mahdi, 175.
Sidi-Mohammed, 175.
Sidi-Mohammed-Sunni, 175.
Sierra Leone, 6.
Silko, 240.
Sinussi, Chief, 93, 108, 112, 115, 117,
119, 156, 165, r66, 168, 170, 171,
173, 174, 177, 184, 201.
Sinussia, 174.
Sinussiism, 267.
Siteri, 43.
Slaves' home, 5, 6, 10, 64.
Slave raiders, 2, 220.
trader, 218.
Sobat, 231.
Sokoto, 8, 112, 147, 246, 250, 262.
Soppo, 217.
Sphinx, 244.
Spirits, 261.
Stanley, i.
Strabo, 235, 236, 239, 240.
Suakim, 264.
Sudanese, nth Battalion, 206.
Sultan of Darfur, 119.
Sultan of Wadai, 117, 118, 119, 170.
Syenite, 258.
Tafam, 28.
Tafifneckt, 237.
Ta-Kes, Ta-Kenset, 235.
Takum, 42, 43, 44, 45.
Talbot, 3.
Talmis, 240.
Tangele, 71, 244, 247, 268.
Tarkus, 238.
Taufikia, 232.
Tegele, 83.
Index.
Thebes, 237.
Tibesti, 4.
Tideng, 93.
Timbuctu, i, 2, 102, no, 260, 264.
Tirhaka, 238.
Tonquieres, Dr. Lieut., 117.
Tornado, 194, 230.
Toschke, 239.
Tothmes, 236.
Tourencq, Lieut., 117.
Trajan, 240.
Tripoli, 4, 102, 115, 242, 258.
Triakontashoino, 238.
Tsetse fly, 108, 163, 183.
Tshabawol, 79.
Tshebagge, 69.
Tumbul of Argo, 242.
Tun, 30.
Tunis, 187, 264.
Ubangi, 109.
Uechtritz, 60.
Uganda, 5, 222, 225.
Una, 236.
Usertsen, 236.
Vaje, 83.
Verde, Cape, 6.
Vogel, I, 2.
\"oulet, 1 10.
Vullum, 80, 83.
Wada, 249.
Wadai, 2,4, 112, 115, 116, 117, 118,
119, 166, 167, X75, 260, 262.
Wadda, 174, 177, 183, 184, i85,-'i93,
259.
Wady-halfa, 236, 241.
Walsh, Lieut. Huntley, 209, 214,
Wart-hog, 138, 142, 143, 159, 162.
Wase, 3S, 34, 36, 37-
Water-buck, 138, 141, 143, 151, 152,
159, 183.
Wau, 174, 205, 211, 215, 218, 219,
221, 223, 225, 226, 227, 265.
Welle, 3.
Western Sudan, 2.
Winchester, 16, 115.
Wingate, Sir Reginald, 232.
W^ikari, 40, 41, 42.
Wokos, 31.
Yam, 261.
Yergum, 33, 35, 250.
Yola, 59, 60, 63, 144, 205, 260.
Yoruba, 249.
Young, 13.
Zaberma, 250.
Zareba, 152.
Zaria, 147, 246, 249.
Zebaim, 241.
Zebair, 241.
Zemio, 218.
Zinder, 1 10.
Zubeir-Pasha, 218.
Zungeru, 8, 9.
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